AntiHeroes
by The Outlander
Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he want to save the world? This is the story of a young man who discovers his gift and is torn between life as a normal human and the life of a true Hero. Rated M, contains adult themes eventually.
1. Prologue Mediocrity

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, or to rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Prologue - Mediocrity

Chapter Summary: Meet Lucas Terry

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'

Introduction:

Life. We think of it as unique. But isn't life just a daily routine? One every single human being goes through every single day? Why is it that people think of it as unique? No one is unique.

Right? Or could there be people who rise above obscurity? People who escape from the menial routines laid upon us by a cruel fate? It's possible. Or so we hope. For what is life if we can not be ourselves? Could we live with the fact we are just simple dots in a pitch-black history? Can man motivate itself, living with the knowledge he is utterly dispensable?

But there are people who can. Special people. Those that will be remembered for all time. Those whose actions and words will live on long after their earthly bodies have perished. And even then, there will be those who do not perish. Those that live on as long as the earth itself.

This story is about those who have broken free of the chains that restrain their fate. Those who achieve greatness…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lucas opened his eyes. The whistling of the birds reached him through the open window, accompanied by a watery ray of light the morning sun shot forth. Spring was in the air, but Lucas couldn't care less about the world outside his bedroom. The seventeen-year-old reached for his glasses and the walls and posters around him lost their shady haze as he put them on his nose. His bedroom was painted blue, although it barely showed. Almost every inch of wall was covered with posters and portraits of his idols: Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bruce Wayne, Ryu Hayabusa,... They were all fictional characters, and that was exactly the way Lucas liked it. He never cared much for the real world, with its mundane people and menial course of action. These people that sprouted from someone else's mind however, fascinated him. He had always been a dreamer, and therefore he looked up to a person who could manipulate the Force, rather than admiring a man that could solve a political crisis. It was simply too earthly for his tastes. Yet, there was no escaping the cold, hard reality of planet Earth. He experienced it first-hand when his mother knocked on the door. µ

"Get up, or you're going to be late for school," she yelled. Lucas grumbled, reluctantly crawling from underneath his sheets. He walked towards the central window in his room, scratching his right buttock in the process. Some sort of morning ritual. It always itched, but he didn't know how or why. He did notice that his cheeks had gained quite a lot of volume over the past few weeks, almost resembling that of a healthy, firm woman. But so far, that was the only thing remarkable about Lucas: his ass. He peered through the window and looked upon the quiet, suburban streets of Manchester, England where he lived. They looked exactly the way they did the day before, and the day before that, and so on. Annoyed, he turned around and walked towards his closet, slowly starting to dress himself. He didn't bother brushing his teeth, combing his hair or anything like that. Those procedures were too repetitive. They reminded him too much of how mediocre he was. And, he _was_ mediocre.

Lucas wasn't tall, neither was he small. He wasn't strong, fast, smart or athletic. His parents weren't rich, their house was a terraced house, he didn't have a brother or sister, wasn't good-looking or trendy, had pimples and he had never kissed a girl, let alone have a girlfriend. He wasn't popular, didn't have a lot of friends and he wasn't really talkative. The only thing he excelled at, was dreaming. Of another dimension, another world. Where people could manipulate the Force, slay fiends with giant scythes, fight evil clowns on top of skyscrapers,... But he snapped back to reality once he had finished putting his clothes on. He wore black jeans, and a red, brandless t-shirt. His shoulder length brown hair hung over his features, that could have been attractive should he actually have given a damn about looking good. He blew some hairs out of his mouth and scratched his right cheek again. He then rubbed his chin, his fingers noticing a small, tough teenage beard.

His mom knocked on the door again, and Lucas heard her going down the stairs. He opened the door and saw his father, a fat and balding middle-aged factory worker, descending the stairs as well. He followed him down, barely resisting the urge to kick the slow man down the stairs. The stairs met the front door, through which the morning newspaper stuck. Lucas' father bent over to grab it and his son quickly went by, not exactly enjoying the sight. He passed through the small living room and entered the kitchen, grabbing the bowl of cereals his mother had already prepared for him. He slowly ate it. It tasted like yesterday.

He was thinking about how much more cereal he'd have to eat before he died when suddenly the bell rang. Lucas knew who it was. It was John Mulrooney, his best, and probably only real friend. Just like Lucas, John was a dreamer. But John was much more social. They had known each other since they were babies, which was the only reason they still hung out with each other. John was much more popular, had a girlfriend and scored decent grades. He was a talented musician and he was probably the fastest swimmer in school. Still, he never stopped caring about Lucas. And Lucas knew John was the only reason he wasn't being bullied to death. And despite John's influence, the school's big, bad bullies often used Lucas for target practice or other 'fun games'. When Lucas opened the door, he saw his best pal standing in the doorway. John looked like a young, slim Johnny Cash. Clad in black without looking like a gothic, slick hair without looking like a douchebag, a curved smile etched on his face.

"How are you doing, Lucas?" John asked.

"Like always," Lucas sighed. He grabbed his bag, and they walked towards the nearest subway station.

* * *

Author's notes: Subtle hints at abilities here, but mainly just character building. The manifestation of an ability will be a more integral part later on in the story. Next chapter will likely contain some relationship-building between the main characters.


	2. Musings

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, or to rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 1 – Musings and irritations

Chapter Summary: Lucas and John are on their way to school. Once there, Lucas doesn't exactly have a good time...

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'

"I don't get it," Lucas complained while going down the subway escalator. "Every time we finish an assignment we get a new one. You work your ass off, just to be given another one. What's the point in working so hard if all you get is more tasks? More books to read, more papers to write, more numbers to calculate. I thought the whole point of work was to achieve something so you can enjoy it afterwards and reap the rewards. And why on earth do we have to read books for science class? Doesn't make sense, John. First we have to read Shakespeare, then Dickens, Byron, and so on and so forth. And when they've run out of good British authors they make us read Darwin."

John sighed while they waited at the station. "I guess they believe that knowledge is power. They feed is knowledge so we can arm ourselves against society in our future lives. If we are sufficiently armed, we can do our jobs well, earn money and reap the rewards."

Lucas snorted. "Hmph, it's not that simple, John. When we are fully-pledged members of working society we'll have other assignments to complete wherever we go. We'll have marriages to uphold, offspring to look after, you name it."

"Well, if we wouldn't do such things, we'd all be extinct by now, wouldn't we?"

"I guess so. But still... There's our train."

With a shrieking noise, the train came to a halt and both teenagers stepped inside. It was fairly empty still, so they sat themselves down next to each other.

"Look," Lucas said and nodded in the general direction of the other people that were sitting in the train. The dark tunnel of the underground quickly filled the windows, darkening their silhouettes and giving them an almost eerie look as the lamps began to flicker. "See that? Every single one of them is sitting alone. Not one of them is trying to make social contact. It's like this every single morning. A train filled with ghosts, I'm telling you. Humans are pathetic, John."

"We're humans as well. And come on, man. Not all humans are terrible."

"Of course they are. Us included. Look at me. I have one friend, never had a girlfriend and occupy myself by disliking everything there is in life. The only thing I like is the world I've created inside my own head. How pathetic is that? I could tell you why you're pathetic, but I don't want to insult you, or anything."

"How very considerate of you, Lucas," John said with a slight grin on his face. "But you've got a point, though. Still, if everyone is as pessimistic as you are, the world sure ain't going to improve. There are also those who can make a difference. Those who are given a gift so they can make the world a better place."

"What, you mean like... politicians?" Lucas asked.

"Maybe. I don't know. Just something I was thinking about when I was reading that book for science class."

"What book did you read?" Lucas enquired, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, something about evolution by an Indian professor. Suresh is his name, I believe. Chandra Suresh."

"I thought we were supposed to read _Origin of Species_?" Lucas remarked.

"No, man. We had to read a book about evolution. Darwin wasn't the only one with theories, you know. Mendel and Lamarck are also famous scientists with theories about evolution..."

"From what century was this Suresh guy?"

"Actually, I think he still lives," John answered. "Book's fairly new. Says that through evolution, people might learn special abilities. Like flight or telepathy, you know?"

"Oh come on, that's impossible," Lucas said. "That's Star Wars stuff, dude. Things we imagine ourselves, hoping they will happen one day."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be awesome?" John enthusiastically began. "I mean, just imagine the two of us being able to fly or... I don't know what. We could free ourselves from the shackles of gravity and obscurity. Man, that'd be so cool. And this doctor says it's possible."

"Then the doctor is a loony. Face it, the world is a stupid place. There's no room for such things in the cold, hard reality. Our only way out of here, the only way we'll ever be able to fly, break things with our mind, read each other's thoughts... is with this," he pointed at his forehead with his index finger, "imagination. That's why I love it. The gateway to another world."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But it's still something fun to think about. I mean... Uh-oh. Here we go."

"Yeah," Lucas sighed. The train stopped at a busy station, and the train was suddenly swamped with students on their way to school.

Lucas suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable, and looked at John, who was scouting the crowd in their cabin, obviously looking for someone.

"She's not here," John told Lucas.

"Who?"

"Yeah, Wu, she ain't here."

"Oh, Wu."

"Yeah, Wu, that's what I said. My girlfriend, Wu Chen, you remember her? Cute little Asian girl?"

"Oh. Yeah. I remember her. Didn't the two of you have issues?"

"Sorta. We're figuring it out."

Lucas didn't reply. He didn't like talking in a crowded place, least of all the subway. Despite the noise of the train and the chattering of the crowd, everybody could hear everybody. And there were already enough people thinking he was weird without listening to him talking about flying. And he didn't like to talk about girls either.

10 minutes later the metro halted and the wagons emptied. Lucas and John also exited as this was the stop nearest to their school. Without talking, they walked towards the exit of the subway and eventually they entered their school.

"What's up first?" John asked.

"Maths. Great..." Lucas murmured.

Two hours later, the students flocked onto the playground. Lucas walked a couple of metres behind John and his girlfriend. At times like these, he was mostly on his own. John was a great friend, but Wu demanded his attention most of the time. Therefore he had to spend breaks on his own most of the time. Because Wu didn't make a secret of the fact she thought Lucas was a weirdo. In fact, Lucas suspected that was the main reason they quarrelled now and then. Still, Lucas didn't mind that much, as long as he was left alone by the others. And that was exactly the problem. Most of the time, others were pointing at him, laughing at him, sometimes they even insulted him in his face. Lucas could stand it, but lately he had been getting the feeling there was something inside of him that wanted to strike back at the bullies. Something inside his chest that could explode if they kept going on. It was like blowing air into a balloon: it can take a lot, but when you blow too much air into it, it bursts with a bang. Lucas felt he was near his breaking point. And it sort of scared him. Because in his entire life he had never retaliated, and never felt the need to. To feel it now was new to him.

In the corner of his right eye, he saw a small group of five guys approaching him. He knew who they were without even looking in their general direction. Tom Stagnetti and his friends. They liked picking on Lucas for a couple of reasons. He was alone most of the time; he never said or did anything back; he looked like a geek;... And the worst part of it was they knew each other since elementary school. Lucas, without looking up, saw them forming half a circle around them. He shut his eyes, and drifted away inside his mind. He heard them talk and he heard them laugh. But he didn't understand what he was saying. He had created some sort of mental barrier around him. He was floating inside his own imagination. _He imagined he was hovering over the school. He flew down and landed on the middle of the playing ground. People looked at him with awe and respect. The pupils of the school gathered themselves around him, but in all of the mass only John's head was distinguishable. Lucas looked at him._

"_You were right. I am able to fly, John. And so are you," Lucas said and he took his best friend's arm. Lucas lifted both of his feet off the ground, and so did John. They both flew a couple of metres, before departing at top speed._

"_This is brilliant," John screamed at the top of his lungs. "I had no idea this was possible. We are special, Lucas. We can do anything we..."_

"Oi, geek! We're talking to you!" one of Stagnetti's pals suddenly shouted, shoving Lucas to give more strength to his words. Lucas was violently torn out of his daydream. He slowly looked up at Stagnetti.

"We asked you were your friends are," the bully mockingly said. "Who else is going to protect you when you get bullied, huh?"

Tom Stagnetti was the stereotypical stinking rich, bullying mama's boy from overprotective parents. He was your typical good-looking son of a bitch every superficial girl would dream about. To be on his bad side wasn't exactly a good thing. So Lucas just replied, hoping they'd get bored with his answers.

"I haven't got any friends," came out of his mouth. He remained as stoic as he could possible be.

"Seems like you've learnt your lesson well, geek. Now...," he continued, while grinning and sitting himself down next to Lucas, "how would you like to hang out with us this evening? Me and the boys, you know. Spend some... quality time."

They were obviously having a laugh with him, so Lucas refused. "No thanks."

"You hear that guys? The geek has got plans for tonight! What are you going to do that's so important you can't hang out with us?"

"Nothing," Lucas answered. He was growing really tired of this.

"Oh, so you think you're better than us? How do you expect to ever be accepted into society when you keep rejecting our offers at friendship, huh? You do not deem us worthy to hang out with you, is that it? Do I have to consider this a personal insult?" Stagnetti said, standing back up. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," he suddenly shouted, and smacked Lucas in the face. A couple of people turned their heads to watch the spectacle.

"Oi!" someone shouted from behind Stagnetti's back. "Leave him alone, will ya?" Lucas immediately recognised John's voice.

Stagnetti and his pals turned around. They saw John and grinned. "Or what?" Stagnetti said.

"Leave him alone, or I'll tell everybody about what happened last weekend. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

This seemed to both Stagnetti. His faced turned a bit pale, and he nodded to his fellows. They slowly walked away from the two of them.

"You gotta fucking stand up for yourself, man," John said while laying his hand on Lucas' shoulder. "We gotta tell somebody about this. You can't let them get away with smacking you and humiliating you time and time again."

"No, no," Lucas quickly reacted, "it's all right. I don't mind."

"Oh come on," John replied, making a face of disbelief, "grow a damn spine, Lucas! There will come a time I'm not there to help you, you know. If you don't stand up for yourself they will never stop harassing you."

"Standing up for myself will just make things worse," Lucas said. "They outnumber me, I can't do anything about it. If I retaliate, they will just hit me harder."

"That's why you gotta tell people about this. Do your parents know, Lucas?"

Lucas wanted to reply, but the bell rang.

"Come on," John said, pulling Lucas on his feet. "Science class..."


	3. Science Class

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, or to rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 2 – Science class

Chapter Summary: John talks about abilities, but is met with cynicism and scepticism

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'

"Mulrooney," you're next, Mr. Saunders said. John somewhat reluctantly got up from his chair and walked towards the front of the class, his book gripped rather tightly in his nervous fingers. He turned around, and was immediately met with a question from his science teacher. "So, John, tell us about the book you read."

"Well," John began, 25 pairs of eyes focused on his words, "the book I read is also about evolution. It's titled 'Activating Evolution'. It's from an Indian professor called Dr. Suresh. Chandra Suresh."

"Right," Mr. Saunders said, cutting John off. "What can you tell us about him?"

"Well, I've found out little about him, both in the book and on the internet. The only thing I know is that he was a professor at an Indian college."

"Was?"

"Yeah, he was fired because his theories were thought to be surreal by many. A lot of geneticists thought he was stark raving mad. But apparently he had so much faith in his theories he continued to teach them to his students. Until he got fired."

"Right, so you're here to tell us about a mad professor whose theories were believed by no one?" Mr. Saunders asked, with one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Well, his theories are about evolution, he wrote a book about it, so I read it. That was the assignment, right?" John somewhat crossly replied.

"Sure it is. Go on," Saunders said, motioning John to carry on with his presentation.

"Right. So, Chandra Suresh believes, like a lot of geneticists, in survival of the fittest. He claims that, with the proper genetic modifications, enhancements, or whatever, people have the right to evolve into a species that is able to be as 'fit' as they can be, if you know what I mean."

"No, we don't," the teacher interrupted again, "please explain."

"Okay, what I mean is that certain people can evolve into humans who can do extraordinary things in order to ensure their survival. Think about it: nuclear bombing, global warming, all these worldwide problems,... No one can actually stop them. In order to survive, people must evolve into something special. Something that can survive in this hostile environment. And this can be achieved in a lot of ways."

The class wasn't really paying attention, except for Lucas and Mr. Saunders of course. Most of the students were playing with their pencils or looking out the window. Or checking on their watches how much longer this class was going to take. Some were re-reading the texts they had prepared so they knew them by heart. Lucas suddenly raised his hand, which surprised both John and the teacher. He rarely ever spoke up in class...

"What kinds of ways, are we talking about here?" Lucas asked.

""Yeah," Mr. Saunders fell in, "what do you mean by that, Mulrooney? How can humans, according to this professor, evolve into something that can... survive a nuclear war, so to speak?"

"Well," John hesitatingly said, "this doctor believes that there is a slight chance some people exhibit certain powers. Like... You know. Rapid cellular regeneration for example. Or an ability to control things with your mind, something like telekinesis. Perhaps even flight."

Most of the students looked at him, drawing their attention away from the other mind-numbing thing they were doing.

"Is he insane, or what?" the teacher said. "You don't actually believe that, do you, Mulrooney? Those are the ramblings of an old, senile man! People being able to fly and regenerate... Unbelievable. Where did you find this book, in an old DC Comics shop?" he spat out with venomous sarcasm in his voice.

"No, sir, it's a book that talks about the various effects evolution can have on mankind. He theorizes that if lizards can grow their limbs back, humans should be able to do so as well if they evolve in some kind of similar way. It's all in..."

"Yes, yes, I've heard enough, Mulrooney, you can go back to your desk."

"But I haven't finished yet, sir," John brought in, but to no avail. Mr. Saunders refused to listen any further.

"This was supposed to be a serious assignment, not some opportunity to read a cheap sci-fi spin-off from serious matter, Mr. Mulrooney," the teacher said. "I really don't know what to do with you. Should I fail you, or what?"

"Oh come on, sir," John complained, sitting himself back down next to Lucas, "it took me two weeks to read and understand it! You can't fail me for an assignment I followed to the letter!"

"We'll talk about it later," Mr. Saunders said, and that was that. "Richardson, your turn!"

""I told you so," Lucas silently whispered when Denise Richardson made her way towards the front of the classroom.

"Yeah, I know," John replied. "Still, I don't regret I read it. Who knows, he even might be right."

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Lucas said as they made their way out of the subway station after school. "Today was another terrible day."

"You mean Stagnetti and his crew bullying you again?" John asked.

"Yeah, that and the fact it was another senseless, useless day, just like yesterday. And the prospect of tomorrow being as boring and irritating as this one, makes this one look even worse. It's a vicious, vicious circle man..."

"God, Lucas, you can be so depressing sometimes!" John said in a raised but muted voice by holding his hands over his face.

"Yeah, I know," Lucas admitted. "Would be a helluva lot better if we could just wake up in one of our fantasies, now wouldn't it?"

"Who knows," John grinned, "according to Dr. Suresh, it's possible."

"Oh, so you really believe it, then?" Lucas said, barely able to suppress the mocking tone in his voice.

"I just think it'd be cool. Being able to fly and all... Who wouldn't want that? I mean, dreams and imaginations are all good, but it'd be even better in real life, don't you think?"

"Nah," Lucas disagreed, "too much complications. I prefer good ol' dreams, thank you very much."

"Man, you can't be serious about that. How could you know if you've never tried?"

"I know because I will never be able to," Lucas said with a smile. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I guess so," John said, returning the smile, but rather wryly.

"So," Lucas said, "wanna hang out tonight? Play some games, listen some music, watch a movie, maybe?"

"Nah, can't tonight," was John's answer.

"How come?"

"Wu's coming over, man. I promised her we'd spend some time together tonight. I can ask her if she minds you come as well. I mean..."

"Oh no, you don't have to," Lucas quickly said.

"Oh come on, why not? You both are important to me. I'd love nothing more than the two of you being able to stand each other. This could be a great opportunity. I don't want to constantly have to divide myself into two halves just so I can satisfy both of you. That means I lose track of my own needs. So, I'm going to ask her if she minds, and if she agrees, you will come over.. Right...?" John said,adding a questioning look to his words.

"Erm, yeah, sure. Thanks for bothering."

"Not at all," John said. They arrived at Lucas' house. "After all, man, you're my best friend. Best one I'll ever have."

"Likewise," Lucas replied. They shook hands and Lucas entered his house. 20 yards further down the street, John entered his.


	4. The Company

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 3 – The Company

Chapter Summary: On their way to school, Lucas and John are approached by 2 mysterious men.

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'.

"Dude,you really need to learn how to get out of bed on time," John said as Lucas slammed the front door shut behind him.

"Sorry, pal," Lucas apologised, "it was a late night yesterday. How about yours?"

"Nothing special," John replied.

"Nothing special? Didn't Wu come over?"

"Yeah..." John sighed.

"Well...?"

"It didn't exactly go very well. We, erm... We argued most of the time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah..." John said again.

"What about?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh come on, you know you can tell me," Lucas insisted.

John took a deep breath. "Fine, if you really want to know... We argued about you, okay? About you, and our friendship. Our friendship, and how much it means to me. It means so much to me that I wasn't prepared to let you drop. She didn't like it and broke up with me. Happy now? That what you wanted to hear?"

Lucas was baffled. He didn't know what to say, so he just opened his mouth a few inches. Eventually the words "I'm sorry" managed to find their way out.

"Well..." John began with a distorted facial expression, "don't be. I mean, I wanted this to happen. Besides, if she's that intolerant I don't even want her as my girlfriend."

Lucas faintly smiled, but inside he was overcome with pride and joy. They had always lived according to the "bro's over ho's"-tenant and he was happy it remained that way. Because quite frankly, he couldn't really imagine his life without his best friend at his side.

"I appreciate that, man," Lucas said quietly, "I really do. It's probably..."

"Hang on a sec," John interrupted, holding up a hand to shut his friend up. "See that?" he asked, pointing at two people in suits who were standing on the corner of the street. One of them had short white hair and a stubbly beard. Just by looking at him, especially the facial structures, John could tell he was an Eastern European, or at least descended from them. The other one seemed younger, had brown hair, albeit with a couple of grey spots around the temples. He had a firm moustache that made him look like a very strict man that you rather wouldn't cross. His hair was combed back and he was rather tall.

"Looks like they're waiting for someone," Lucas suggested.

"Us?" John asked in reply.

"Why would they?" Lucas returned.

"I don't know…" was John's answer.

Lucas and John upped their pace, hoping to get past both men as quickly as possible. However, when they approached them, the one with the moustache stepped in front of them, effectively blocking their way.

"What the..?" John began but he was cut off by the man with the trimmed white beard.  
"Lucas Terry?" he asked as a manner of identity confirmation. John immediately knew he was right about his Eastern European heritage, judging from his accent. There was no sympathy in his voice, although both kids picked up some kind of curiosity in the man's tone.

"Who wants to know?" John asked while Lucas remained silent.

"My partner and I," he said while nodding in the moustached man's direction, "work for a company that deals with extremely talented individuals like your friend. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Ivan Spektor(**), and my partner is called Maarten(*)." He extended his hand, but the teenagers remained weary and did not shake it.

"What do you want from us?" John asked them.

"Nothing from you" Ivan replied, "we're interested in your friend here."

"Why?"

"We believe him to be… special."

"Special how?" John asked, continuing to fire questions at the man.

"Evolved. We don't know any specifics yet. Not entirely anyway… That's why we want to ask him a couple of questions, if it's not too much of a bother."

"Actually, it is," John replied, "we're on our way to school, we're going to miss the subway train."

"It's okay, John," Lucas said. It was the first time he spoke up in the presence of the two strange men. "Let them ask their questions. Then hopefully they'll leave us alone. Right?" he asked, directing his question towards Ivan, as Maarten had remained silent throughout the exchange of words.

"Possibly," Ivan answered. "It all depends on your answers."

"Possibly? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" John crossly said. "Want me to call the police, or something? You're stalking us, aren't you? Hell, could even sue you for threatening Lucas and I!"

"That won't be necessary, I can assure you. We just believe Lucas has the potential to be someone very special, and his answers to our questions might give us some insight on just how special he is. There's no threat in that, is there?"

Sensing that Ivan was trying to outsmart him, John became nervous. Then, Lucas spoke up again.

"Okay, fine, ask your questions. Quickly!" he added. Though he seemed a bit scared, he also looked a bit excited. After all, nobody had called him special before… And even though he was growing a bit tired of all this 'evolution' bullshit, he figured it couldn't hurt him to hear what they had to say.

"Have you noticed something out of the ordinary recently?" Ivan asked.

"Well, there's an awful lot of O3 in the atmosphere these days, and…" Lucas began, but he was immediately cut off.

"That's not what I meant," Ivan said, trying to keep his voice sympathetic, but failing miserably. "I meant about yourself. Some changes in your body, things you can do you couldn't do before…"

"Erm,… Not really," Lucas said, raising his eyebrows. It was becoming clear to him they were dealing with lunatics here.

"Nothing? Nothing at all?" Ivan persisted.

"No, are you deaf!?" John replied in Lucas' stead, and he took his friend by the shoulder. "We really have to go now. Bye! And don't follow us!" he yelled over his shoulder as they disappeared into the subway. Ivan looked at Maarten.

"That didn't go well," Ivan said.

"That was to be expected."

"I guess so. Still, it's a shame. Either we were wrong about him, or either he hasn't manifested."

"What's his supposed ability anyway?" Maarten asked.

"We're not sure, he's an unknown anomaly. Could be anything. For all we know he's an empath. Maybe he can produce fire, like you."

"You think he's got a dangerous gift?"

"I told you, we're not sure yet. That's why we need to find out. He could become very, very dangerous. Or maybe he can just see in the dark or grow an awful lot of hair in his ears."

"Why didn't we just bag and tag him? Easy enough. If he truly is dangerous, as you believe."

"I first wanted to see whether he knew about his ability or not. He clearly doesn't. There was outright confusion in his eyes. Right now, he's just like any other kid out there. But that's bound to change. We'll bag and tag him later, though. Can't have him running around loose. Not until we know what he can do and whether it's a threat or not."

"Good," Maarten said. "Good… We shouldn't take any rash decisions about this kid. He needs to be helped. Shall we go see the parents now, then?"

"Sure," Ivan replied. "Let's go."

"What the hell was that about?" John asked himself out loud when the doors to the subway train slid closed. "Anything out of the ordinary? The only thing out of the ordinary is two guys following you on our way to school."

"Yeah..." Lucas replied. "Strange, huh?" he replied, although deep down he was kind of hoping he would get the chance to meet them again. Lunatics they might be, they did say he could be special. That definitely was a first. But then again, it sounded too good to be true. He was just Lucas Terry. Just a kid. Nothing special. He was reminded of that often enough at school.

"Next time I see them I'ma call the police on their asses,"John began. "Nutjobs, both of them. Did you see that guy's moustache? I mean, come on! Burt Reynolds ain't got nothing on him! And the Russian dude, definitely illegal. Definitely."

"Still, I'd like to know what they meant by 'special'."

"Hey, don't go flying, Luke. Don't let them get inside your head. Forget about them. As I said, they were nutjobs. Let's talk about something else, those dudes have already gotten far more attention than they deserve."

"Okay. Let's talk about... what?"

"How should I know?"

"Okay, this isn't really going anywhere," Lucas sighed. "Maybe we should just shut up."

"Good idea."

Both guys held their tongues until they arrived at the right stop. The train had become very crowded, but it drained empty when over a hundred students pushed their way through the tiny doors. Lucas and John silently followed the mass, until they arrived at the school gate. John looked at Lucas, who was scouting the area.

"Don't worry," John said in an effort to calm down his friend. "Stagnetti only picks on lonely people. I got your back."

"Thanks," Lucas answered with a faint smile. John and him always understood each other without having to speak. It was as if they could read each other's minds. It's why Lucas loved to be around him.

John and Lucas continued towards the playing grounds, until they were approached by a black man in a suit. Lucas immediately seemed to recognise him, but John raised his eyebrows as the man asked them a question.

"I'm sorry, boys, but where exactly is your headmaster's office?"

"Erm, it's through the main door on the right, fourth door on the left I think," John replied.

"Thank you. I think I'll see you boys around later," he said, and gave both Lucas and John a thankful nod and a handshake, which John reluctantly accepted, turned around and left, following the route John had laid out for him.

"Man," John said, "that's the second time today we've been approached by weird men in suits."

"Dude," Lucas whispered in awe, "do you have any idea who that was?"

"What, the black guy?" John asked.

"John, that _black guy_ is professor Wallace Stone, an authority on the workings of the human brain."

"What, no kidding?"

"I shit you not, that man is probably the smartest man in Britain."

"Oh, so he's the man that's going to give us a lecture later today, right?"

"Yep. I've been looking forward to it all week," Lucas added enthusiastically.

"Well, I'm glad at least one of us is interested in it."

"Hey, I thought you were quite into this whole 'evolution' thing?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," John replied, "but that's not really what he does, is it? He just talks about the brain."

"The brain, yes. But also how the brain evolved over the millennia, and how it affects the body and its functions."

"No shit, Luke? Well, I guess that does sound interesting, but I hope it doesn't become a boring lecture like the one two weeks ago, about the influence of Hegel's dialectics on Marx's philosophy."

"Yeah, that was pretty boring," Lucas admitted. "But I've read about this guy, it seems he's a brilliant storyteller."

The school bell rang, and both boys made their way towards the main hall, where the lecture was going to be given. As they walked past Stagnetti, John and the Italian exchanged dirty looks, but they both kept their mouths shut. They took a seat in the crowded hall, and waited for professor Wallace Stone to begin.

"This the place?" Maarten asked Ivan when he rang the bell.

"Yes, apparently. Not much to look at, is it? Goes to show you that evolution doesn't take social class or wealth in regard."

"You can say that again," Maarten snorted underneath his moustache. "But why did you insist on meeting him on the street? That's something I don't get."

"I told you before, Maarten. He's an anomaly. We know nothing about him. I wanted to talk to him in an open environment, not a confined one."

"But if he had to be stopped, it would've been better out of everybody's view. I mean... I can produce and direct fire, Ivan. It attracts quite a lot of attention."

"There's not a soul on the street."

"Yeah, but still..."

"Drop it, Maarten! Focus on the task at hand," Ivan said, raising his voice.

"Sorry, Ivan," Maarten apologised. "Speaking of the task at hand, they're taking quite a lot of time to open the damn door. You sure they're at home? These are working hours, you know."

"I'm sure of it. We don't know anything about the boy's ability, but I do know a lot about his parents. His father worked in a factory. He got fired 2 weeks ago for being absent too many times. His mother works at home, she runs an internet business. Tupperware."

"Jesus Christ, what a family," Maarten sighed.

"Quite," Ivan replied, and rang the doorbell again. They heard a stumble in the corridor, and a loud curse. The door opened a few seconds later. A small, balding man with a stubbly beard opened. He was clad in a washed-off jeans and a white, sleeveless t-shirt. He looked at the two men as if they were bums, and didn't say a word.

"Mister Terry?" Ivan asked, to which the man nodded. "I am Ivan Spektor, and my partner over here is Maarten. We're here about your son."

"Lucas?" Mr. Terry replied with his gruff voice. "What did he do?"

"Erm, may we come in?" Ivan asked. "We can talk in a more comfortable fashion that way."

"I guess so," Mr. Terry mumbled. Ivan and Maarten were led indoors and guided to a small living room with two couches, and a rather small television. There was a big window looking out on the street, covered by a white see-through curtain and some potted plants. There was a big carpet on the floor, stretching from one corner of the room to the other. It depicted a strange symbol: something that looked like a curly f, with a few dots and stripes. Ivan and Maarten looked at each other.

"So," Mr. Terry began, "what's this about?"

"Well, Mr. Terry," Ivan began, but was cut off immediately.

"Call me Frank."

"Okay. Frank, is your wife at home? We would like her to take part in our discussion."

"Yeah, sure thing. Sharon!!" he shouted at the top of his voice, making the thin window tremble.

A tiny, thin woman appeared out of a room next to the living room, which Ivan suspected to be the kitchen. The woman smelled of freshly peeled onions and burnt toast. She wore a pink dress, which covered her entire body. "What is it, Frank?" she asked with a squeaky voice.

"We got company. These gents here have come to talk about our son."

"Lucas? He's not in trouble is he?" she asked as she sat herself down next to her husband.

"Not at all, dear lady, I can assure you."Quite the opposite in fact. You see, we represent a company that has taken an interest in your son. We believe he has..."

"You're not trying to sell us something, are you?" Frank Terry interrupted. "If so, we're not interested."

"Oh, no, my good man," Ivan continued, not at all taken aback by the man's rather rude interruption. "We believe Lucas is one of the most talented individuals we have ever seen. We have come with a proposition. You see, your son could mean a lot to those we work for."

"Could?" Frank interrupted again. "So you're not sure, then?"

"Well, no," Ivan admitted. "But that is where you could come in handy. If it's not too much of a bother, we'd like to ask you some question about Lucas. If that's all right with you," Ivan added.

"Well, ask away I suppose," Sharon Terry replied. "If it could mean Lucas gets a chance in life, we have to take it. Right, Frank?"

"I guess so," her husband replied. "Ask your questions."

"Well, first off: how do the two of you see Lucas?" Ivan asked.

"He's a good kid," Frank replied. "Doesn't do any harm to anyone. And he does all right in school. Not brilliant, but... still all right."

"He's very enthusiastic," Sharon continued. "When he puts his mind to something, he doesn't rest until he has achieved his goal. And he has such an amazing imagination!"

"Yeah, one might say he's got his head in the clouds a bit too much. But he does what is required of him, I guess. He's a good son."

"Great," Ivan replied, not knowing what to think of these answers. "And has he ever absolutely excelled at something?"

"Not that I know of," Frank said, shaking his head and pursing his lips. "He's average at most things he does; although I personally think it's just a lack of motivation."

"Has he ever done something special?" Ivan asked. "Something you thought was strange, but not necessarily bad?"

"Er, not really, no," Sharon said, also shaking her head. "He's just... been here. That's about it."

"You haven't had the feeling at all he's somewhat different from other kids his age?" Ivan continued.

"Well," Frank replied, "he doesn't talk that much. He's got only one real friend, the Mulrooney kid from a couple of houses down the road. He's not as talkative as others, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. He says something when it's required of him. It's not a nuisance, is it, Sharon?"

"Oh, no, not at all. But it's true, he never was someone to handle the big crowds."

"And has something changed about him, recently? Things he can do he couldn't before. Physical changed, maybe? Or mental changes."

"Mental changes?" Frank remarked. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Well, as if he suddenly started remembering everything, or got a lot smarter, or..."

"Oh, like that," Frank said, nodding his head.

"Yes?" Ivan hopefully remarked.

"No, not at all," Frank answered, shaking his head. "He's just Lucas..."

"Well, he did tell me that his backside got a lot bigger over the past few weeks, but that's probably just the hormones kicking in," Sharon added.

"About goddamn time," Frank laughed out loud. Ivan smiled wryly.

"I see. Well, that's about it. Thank you for your time, Mr. And Mrs. Terry." Ivan and Maarten got to their feet, and both Lucas' parents stood up as well. They shook hands, and made their way to the door. They were let out by Frank Terry, who asked them when they were going to hear from them again.

"We'll contact you as soon as we know anything," Ivan said with a faint smile.

"Great! See ya!" Frank replied, and slammed the door shut.

"Well, that was a goddamn waste of time," Maarten said.

"True," Ivan added. Goddamn waste..."

[Author's notes: */Maarten

**/Ivan]


	5. A Hero Revealed

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 4 – A Hero revealed

Chapter Summary: Lucas and John make an exciting discovery in Lucas' bedroom.

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'.

[Author's Note: Something has been going wrong with the indications of scène-transitions in the earlier chapters. I hope I've fixed it in this one.]

XXX---XXX---XXX

"God damn waste of time," Lucas shouted out as he briefly summarized the professor's lecture. "I thought we were in for a real treat this morning, but no... All we got were the fictional ramblings of a man who has forsaken science and turned to mad fantasy."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," John said, shrugging as they walked out of the school gates. "Reminded me a bit of that book I read by the Suresh guy, 'Activating Evolution'."

"Yes, that's exactly my point!" Lucas continued. "It's delusional. We should leave those fabrications of mind where they belong: buried within our skulls."

John smiled. "Odd, I thought this whole 'superpowered-people' concept would appeal to you. It's as if Star Wars and such suddenly become reality, isn't it?"

"Look, pal, I know I'm a dreamer and an sf-fanboy, but I'm also a realist. There's the real world, and then there's the world of dreams and imaginations. The two shouldn't be mixed up, it doesn't do either one of them justice. The real world is cruel, cold, hard,... The universe of the mind is cheerful, limitless, without boundaries. When I see people who want to ruin all of that, it makes me angry. Especially since they started spouting their unfounded theories towards the naïve minds of teenage students."

"Hey, there was hardly anyone listening in there, anyway," John joked, although it was the truth.

"Yeah, well, I guess it'll be the last lecture he ever gives us," Lucas grinned, "did you see the look on the principal's face? Priceless!"

"Yeah, if professor Stone stood there and started making claims the dinosaurs were still among us, I think he'd have made the same face," John laughed.

'Absolutely. I don't know where all this sudden talk about people with extraordinary abilities seems to come from. First this Suresh guy with the book, then the two weirdo's on the street, now professor Wallace Stone, of all people! I mean, nobody has ever even seen one, right? I mean, evolution isn't a rapid process, and it certainly doesn't happen in the course of one generation. I mean, us being the next link in the chain of human evolution, that would be like... as big a chance as winning the national lottery every day for the coming year! Very slim indeed."

They arrived at the Subway station. The doors opened, and the two guys squeezed in.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Maarten observed the two boys when they entered the subway train. Ivan had ordered him to tail them. Well, to tail the long-haired geek. But Maarten soon found out that it basically meant the same as tailing them both. They seemed inseparable. He noticed quickly that this Lucas boy wasn't the most popular kid around. And judging by the way he looked, Maarten understood why. He saw that people stayed away from him and that nobody spoke to him, or even thought him worthy of a friendly look. Yet the boy possessed something. What it was, Maarten was did not know. But the kid had an ability, and he was one of the very few that had a power that had been impossible to decipher by Dr. Suresh's algorithm. Ivan had said that he doubted if the kid actually had an ability to begin with. But somehow, Maarten knew. Ivan was not an evolved human, like he was. He had been working with him for a long, long time, yet he always thought Ivan could not relate to those they bagged-and-tagged. Not like Maarten could. Maarten felt sympathy for his fellow evolved humans; it didn't make his life as a Company agent any easier, but he knew that he was doing the right thing. After all, not every evolved human has a kind spirit, and a lot seek to abuse their ability. Maarten had known people who changed completely after their ability had manifested. He had known a woman once, capable of sedation. Before she manifested, she was a kind and caring lady who worked as a tavernkeeper. After that, she started sedating people with her mind, with theft being the least of her crimes. Maarten understood why such people had to be hunted down, locked away and if necessary destroyed. And he didn't have any qualms about using his own ability, pyrokinesis, to do so. Conjuring flames had come to him at a very young age. He was in his fifties now, and not far away from his retirement. But he still remembered the first time he powered. Back in his home country, Russia, he was playing in the snow. His sister threw a snowball at him. He instinctively held his hand in front if his face, trying to fend off the snowball. But it never reached its destination. A blast of flame shot forth from the palm of his hands, melting the snowball instantaneously. His sister didn't get scared. She was fascinated by her little brother, and they decided to keep his ability a secret from their parents. They failed of course, but his parents weren't afraid of him after they found out. They motivated him to further explore the boundaries of his power and try to use it for good ends. Maarten was sure that if his parents hadn't been so supportive of him, he would be nowhere near as powerful as he was now, or would have had such excellent control over his ability. According to The Company's research data, Maarten had a control index of 99% over his ability, which is the most in any encountered evolved human that possessed the ability of pyrokinesis. During his travels with Ivan he once encountered a boy who could not control his own flames. He couldn't direct them, couldn't keep them down, nor could he choose not to flame up. Ivan wanted to take the boy down, but Maarten, being immune to the effects of fire in general, was able to approach him and talk to the boy, and he learned him to control his powers in a matter of minutes. He still had to be bagged-and-tagged and Haïtaned(*) afterwards, but it was a hell of a lot better than being killed, especially since his control index remained stable after losing his memory. That's why he liked working for the Company. He felt he could make a difference to those evolved humans that needed help. And, if at all possible, he would try to help this kid as well.

(*Haïtaned: Heroes jargon for 'losing your memory' after being touched by Rene, a Company agent and an evolved human with the power to block out the abilities of other evolved humans and make them forget certain memories. )

XXX___XXX___XXX

"You coming by later tonight?" Lucas asked John, shaking his hand on the doorstep of his parental home.

"Sure, pal. I'll give you a call. Ciao," John said, walking towards his own house a couple yards further.

Lucas got inside with his key, and shouted "I'm home" as he closed the door behind him. His dad walked out of the living room, greeting his son who hung up his jacket at the nearest hallstand. "Hi, Luke, how was your day?"

"All right," Lucas said, shrugging. He walked up the stairs, but was held back by his father.

"Wait a second, come to the living room, will ya? We got something to talk about."

"Oh," Lucas replied, raising his eyebrows. "Okay," and he followed his dad to the living room. To his surprise, his mother was sitting on the couch with her hands on her knees. Normally she was in the kitchen. Cooking was her well-beloved hobby, she barely did anything else. This made it clear to Lucas they had been waiting for him. "Hi, mom," Lucas greeted her as he sat himself down in the couch opposite her.

"Hi, honey," she answered while Frank plumped himself down next to her.

"So, what's this about?" Lucas curiously asked.

"Well," Frank began, "there were two men here today, who…"

"Wait," Lucas interrupted. "Two men? Did one have a Russian accent, and did the other one have a moustache?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact," his dad said, nodding his head and trading a baffled look with his wife. "How do you know?"

"Look, I met them in the street. They approached John and me. They were saying something about me being… special."

"Yes, that's what they said to us as well," his mom fell in, quickly nodding her head as well. "They said they wanted to give you some kind of opportunity, and…"

"Look, mom, they were crazy, ok? I don't want to hear anything about it, and that's that. They're nutjobs, and you should call the police, rather than listening to them. If they show up again, call the police, okay?"

"But…" his mother began, " They're just people from a company that takes a special interest in…"

"Oh, please, and you actually believed them?" Lucas snorted. "Christ sakes, mom. They're planning some scan of sorts."

"You think so?"

"Of course, you're being naïve as always. And now I don't want to hear anything more about it. I'll be in my room when you need me," Lucas concluded and that was that. He got out of the couch, and quickly ran upstairs, leaving his mom and dad behind; neither of them knew what to think.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"What up, Luke?" John said, closing Lucas' bedroom door behind him.

"Yo," Lucas replied, looking up from his TV-screen. He paused the game he was playing, and gave John a second controller.

"Halo, huh?" John grinned, as he watched the game's menu. "Cool, let's kick some ass!"

"So," Lucas began as he resumed the gameplay, "what have you been up to after school? Talked to Wu, yet?"

"Nah," John answered, "best to just let her be for the moment. Don't think either of us really needs to hear from the other."

"You know, I can't help but feel a bit guilty," Lucas continued as he blasted a Covenant soldier off a ridge.

"We've been over this, pal," John sighed. "Don't be, okay?"

"Sorry."

"Sure."

They played for over half an hour, talking only about Halo's combat tactics. When they finally passed the third level on Legendary mode, they laid down their controllers.

"Phew, that was intense!" Lucas yelled, to which John smiled.

"Yep, we've become too awesome for this game. Did you know that they call it 'Combat Evolved'? Kinda strange, isn't it? I mean, Master Chief ain't evolved, he's a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier."

"Oh, don't bring this evolution crap up again, will you?" Lucas sighed. "It's annoying the bleeding hell out of me."

"Hey, we're talking games here, Luke!" John grinned. "I'm not confusing it with reality."

"Yeah, but every time I hear the word 'evolution' I get edgy. Did you know that those two guys who approached us this morning came into my house and talked to my parents about me?"

"What?" John replied, amazed by it. "You called the police, didn't you?"

"No, but I told my parents to do so next time they showed their mugs."

"I would've kicked their asses," John replied. He seemed angry.

"Yeah, well, it does seem kinda weird," Lucas admitted. "Suddenly everyone's talking about special powers, and stuff. Even Wallace Stone, for God's sakes! Supposedly the most intelligent man in Britain!"

"Wow, seems like he seriously disappointed you, didn't he?" John grinned.

"Damn right he did," Lucas answered, almost fuming. "He was supposed to deliver this brilliant speech about how the human brain developed and he starts going off about this whole evolution bullcrap. That's something I don't understand."

As Lucas continued his rant about Wallace Stone, John noticed something that scared the living crap out of him. It came so unexpected that he jumped into the air, and backed down 5 yards, pressing his back against Lucas' bedroom wall. "Holy shit, dude!" he shouted out. "Holy shit, what the fuck is that?"

"Wha-?" Lucas asked, baffled by John's sudden scare.

"Your hand!" John screamed at the top of his voice. "Look at it!"

"Eh…" Lucas mumbled, looking down at his left hand. "Whoa, what the hell?" he shouted as well, grabbing his left arm by the wrist, and held his left hand in front of him. It had changed color. Instead of the pale tone they used to have, it was pitch-black. Not only that, but his fingers were much longer and thicker as usual. His nails were much shorter, and there grew stubborn hairs on the topside of his fingers as well.

"Dude," John mumbled. "That is fucked up."

"I don't…" Lucas began, "get it," he continued after a long pause.

John looked as if he had seen a ghost. "This is what those guys talked about, isn't it?"

"I don't know," Lucas said, concentrating in his hand.

"Sheeeeeeee-it," John brought out. "Look, it's disappearing!" he shouted, pointing at Lucas' hand.

And right he was. His fingers grew shorter and less hairy, the black color faded back to its normal paleness, his nails grew longer and finally the changes stopped, until it was as if Lucas' hand had never changed.

"This is quite possibly the most disturbing thing I have ever seen," John mumbled. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know, I'm telling you! I was just thinking about Wallace Stone, and then…"

"Then what? You started changing into him? Shit, Luke, you need to get yourself checked. You need to contact those two Russian guys from that company. They obviously know _something_ about this."

"I'm not sure. I need some time to think…"

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Well, well, well," Ivan grinned as he put down his binoculars. Him and Maarten were sitting in the house across the street, concealed behind the one-way curtains. The house was empty, of course. Ivan had made sure of that; his contacts at the Company called the family to a house of court that didn't exist, to act as the jury in a case that would never happen, of an unknown criminal that had been convicted of walking in the street. They would be gone for quite a while…

"Interesting," Maarten mumbled.

"Seems like we're dealing with a shape shifter, here."

"Think so?"

"Obviously," Ivan shrugged. "Well, that settles it, then. We're bagging-and-tagging tonight."

"Why?"

"Maarten, shape shifters are dangerous, you know that, don't you? They're thieves of identity. They steal the most sacred a person possesses. They can commit crimes and walk away unpunished by law without even breaking a sweat. They can kill, ravage, plunder and the likes and not even be afraid of getting caught. We're not letting this one go. Shape shifters are dangerous. That's the end of it," Ivan concluded.

Maarten sighed deeply.

"Look," Ivan comforted him, laying his hand on his shoulder, "I know this isn't the most fun thing to do. But I got out of retirement for something, and that is to help people with abilities. You are nearing your retirement as well, Maarten, and I know you're a very reliable partner. We have a responsibility to fulfill here. Shape shifters are potential threats. We at least need to keep track of him. If he proves to be harmless, well… No harm done then, right?"

"Well," Maarten hesitantly said, "I guess so…"

[Author's Notes: Next chapter: Maarten and Ivan do what they do best. For more (canon) information on Maarten and Ivan, check the Heroes wiki; it might help you in gaining some background on the 2 characters (if you don't already know them, that is)]


	6. Bag'em and tag'em

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 5 – Bag'em and tag'em

Chapter Summary: Ivan and Maarten do what they do best.

Timeline situation: A couple of days after 'How to stop an exploding man'.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Hi, it's good to see you again", Ivan said, shaking the hand of Fran Tyler.

"Likewise," she said. "It's been way too long."

"You remember Maarten, right?" Ivan pointed at his moustached partner.

"Sure I do. How could I forget someone with such a... fiery personality?"

"Thanks for the compliment," Maarten replied, "your face is very forgettable, though."

Fran laughed. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment as well. So, Ivan, what's the plan?"

""Normally, we'd use The Haïtan and get this all over with very quickly," the Russian Company agent began. "But I believe this to be a special case. I want to detain him indefinitely."

"What?" Maarten intervened. "You didn't say anything about that before!"

"It's for the best, my friend," Ivan continued. "You said you wanted to help him, didn't you? Well, if we detain him, we can."

"Yeah, right," Maarten sceptically replied. "Tell me the truth, Ivan. For once..."

Ivan sighed. "Very well, I'll be straight with you. The reason I want to detain him is that I want to convince him to become a Company Agent. Fran here is the only shape shifter the Company has left. We can use him."

"What if he doesn't want to? He's just a naïve kid, for Heaven's sake."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Ivan concluded. "Bob*'s orders, Maarten. I'm sorry." (*Bob: Bob Bishop, leader of the Company. For more information, refer to: /Bob)

"Sure…" Maarten groaned.

"Then, what's the plan?" Fran continued, making a gesture with her hands, indicating they had to carry on.

"It's simple, you take his place for the time of his imprison… detainment," Ivan quickly corrected himself, looking at Maarten's angry look. "His disappearance would raise suspicion, especially since his friend saw what happened when he first shifted. It would create such a mess the Haïtan would have to erase so many memories we'd be left with an entire town that wonders how it's possible they woke up after five months of sleep. We can't do that, obviously."

"Well, you better pay me well for this, Ivan!" Fran warned him. "What a job, Jesus Christ! I have to take his place? You mean, live in his house, go to his school, attend classes, make homework, all that stuff?"

"Yeah, but you won't have to deal with anyone except the parents. Don't kill them, though, just avoid them. The kid's not exactly a social person anyway, it won't raise suspicion if you don't talk to anybody. Also, shut out his best friend, he's way too curious. Just don't talk to him, don't let him in, stay out of his way. When he tries to talk to you about what happened, say he must have imagined it, and walk away. Got that?"

"I guess so…" Fran sighed. "This is definitely the shittiest job the Company's ever given me, Ivan."

"It's for the greater good, Fran. If you succeed, we're one Company Agent richer. And a very useful one, I might add."

"Yeah… I will need to touch him before I can shift into his appearance, though."

"I know, there'll be time enough for that. Here are the documents by the way…"

"Documents?" Maarten asked.

"Yep, documents," Ivan affirmed. "Detailing his personal records, his surroundings, his peers, his social standing, his mannerisms,…"

"Looks like you've been doing some intensive research," Maarten mumbled.

"True, that. A Company agent must be well-prepared."

"You can say that again," Fran agreed, looking at the pile of papers Ivan took out of his briefcase and handed over to her.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"And I want a mansion. With a pool," Fran whispered as Ivan, Maarten and herself crept up the stairs of the Terry family home. "And a car. A Lamborghini. With a Jacuzzi in it. And a mini-bar. And a PlayStation3. And…"

"Fine, fine," Ivan said, barely managing to keep his voice somewhat down. "Now be silent, you're going to wake them up!"

Getting into the house had been an easy task. Ivan could get into the Kremlin if he put his mind to it. Despite having come out of retirement, being an old man and having no powers whatsoever, Ivan was still one of the Company's best agents. He had taken down people that could move the earth, freeze things, move objects with their minds, turn their body into water, spit fire, control the weather, clone themselves in a matter of seconds,… This job seemed to be small-time compared to other things he had done, but it was still necessary, and in the Company's best interest. He was considering retiring permanently anyway, going back to Odessa in Ukraine, with Katarina, his wife. It seemed very attractive, but for some reason, he suspected the Company would always be part of him.

The trio neared the bedroom door of the parents, and Ivan whispered something at Maarten. "Tranquilize them, will you?"

Maarten simply nodded and disappeared into the chamber without making any noise at all. Ivan and Fran opened Lucas' bedroom door, and found the young man softly snoring; Ivan took a needle out of his pocket and injected it in Lucas' upper arm. "That should keep him down for about a day or two," he murmured.

"Whoa," Fran snorted, by the looks of him, the guy could use some shape shifting. Look at the hair! And the ridiculous teenage beard. And something to remove spots would've been no unnecessary luxury either!"

"That'll do," Maarten groaned behind them. "No need to start insulting him. You'll be impersonating him after all. At least have some respect, you're already stealing his identity."

"Tranquilized them?" Ivan asked his partner.

"Yes," he answered. "They wouldn't wake up if an elephant charged their bedroom door."

"Good," Ivan nodded. "Fran, do your thing."

The lady touched Lucas forehead, and closed her eyes. Her blond hairs became brown and shortened a bit. A teenage beard appeared on her chin; her cheekbones started to stick out a bit more; her chin got rounder; her nose shrunk a bit; she got shorter; she put on a bit more weight;… Within a minute, there was to be told no difference at all between the boy sleeping in the bed, and the shape shifter standing next to him.

"Remarkable," Ivan grinned. "Not a difference to be seen, eh, Maarten?"

Maarten just raised his eyebrows.

"Fine, let's take him," Ivan sighed, grabbing Lucas' arm and hanging it around his neck.

"Wait,"' Fran said, with Lucas' voice, "I still need his glasses. Can't see a goddamned thing with these eyes."

"Oh, right," Ivan answered. "Give her his glasses, will you, Maarten?" he told his partner. Maarten reluctantly did so, and when Fran put them on the transformation was complete.

Ivan laid Lucas on his shoulders. "Let's go. Good luck, Fran. The Company is relying on you."

"Sure," she said. "You can already start typing my paycheck. Maybe when this is over, you'll have filled in all the numbers."

Ivan grinned. "Don't worry, you'll be compensated fairly."

Maarten and Ivan got down the stairs, and closed the door behind them when they left the house. The laid the boy's body in the trunk of the car, and drove off. All the way to the Manchester Airport. There, a private plane of the Company awaited them, ready to take him to the Primatech Research facility in Hartsdale, New York.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Bob," Ivan greeted his boss with a nod and shaking his hand, "good to see you again."

"Ivan, Maarten," Bob Bishop nodded in return.

"Mr. Bishop," Maarten greeted him.

"I trust the two of you have been successful?" the leader of the Company asked.

"Absolutely," Ivan smiled. "We've dropped him off right where you wanted him. In the cell next to Monroe and Petrelli."

"Great," Bob replied. "Maarten, could you wait outside for a moment?"

Surprised, Maarten raised his eyebrows. "Sure, boss," he said, turning around and walking out of the room.

"Right," Bob began, "you told me in your report you had concerns about Agent Maarten's attitude?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He has become too emotionally attached to this case."

"How so?"

"Compassion for the subject. Reluctance to follow orders, as well as questioning them. He never did that before. I think he has grown attached to the boy; he seems a bit over-protective. I fear that if we treat this Terry kid badly, Maarten might turn…"

"…against us?" Bob completed Ivan's sentence. "Do you think it's that serious?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Ivan admitted.

"So, are you suggesting we… get rid of him?"

"Oh, no," Ivan quickly said, "not at all. Maarten has been one of the best I've ever worked with, possibly on the same level as Bennett and Rains. He has been loyal and always got results. I personally would feel guilty about harming him. So I was more thinking… an honorable discharge."

"Hmm," Bob contemplated, "what if he becomes dangerous after we let him go?"

"Send him back to Russia," Ivan suggested. "He still has family there. You can keep track of him through the isotope system, and he's too far away to be of any danger to us."

"Sounds like a good plan," Bob concluded. We'll probably do that, then."

"Thank you," Ivan smiled.

"So, what did you think of the Terry kid?"

"Well, he seems to be a shape shifter, which is of course an extremely useful ability."

"You think he can be persuaded to join us?"

"It won't be easy," Ivan admitted. "From what Maarten and I have learned, he seems reluctant to deal with anything that has to do with abilities and evolution. But we won't know for sure until we try, will we?"

"Quite right. I heard Fran wasn't happy with her assignment?"

No, and quite frankly, Bob, I can't blame her. Still, it is necessary. Once we are finished with the Lucas kid he can either return to his family and start working for us, or we can send someone in to stage a suicide of some sorts. Nobody will be amazed by that, I've never seen such an antisocial being before."

"Good," Bob said. "Good. Now let's hope everything will work out fine."

"How do you plan on convincing him to work for us?" Ivan asked.

"Elle will handle that," Bob explained. "She can be pretty persuasive when it comes to young men like him. I already ordered her to try and seduce the Petrelli guy."

"Well, let's hope it works out."

"I'm sure it will," Bob calmed Ivan down. "And what are you going to do now, Ivan? You're a freelancer, but you're always welcome here."

"Well, I was thinking about returning to Ukraine," Ivan suggested. "With my wife and grandson."

"Hmm," Bob said, nodding. "If you do that, I have a favor to ask of you. You see, I have some paintings here that need hiding…"

XXX___XXX___XXX

[Author's notes: Next chapter will focus on The Company learning Lucas how to use his power, as well as trying to recruit him into their ranks. It will mainly be relationship building between Elle and Lucas, as well as further explorations of Lucas' powers.

This will probably be the last we see of Ivan in this fanfic, as he is required to be in the Ukraine for it to remain 'canonly' possible (he appears in season 2 in the Ukraine after all). If you wanna know how Ivan's story ends, you can always refer to the Heroes Wiki or just… watch the show (again ^^)!]


	7. A change of heart

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 6 – A change of heart

Chapter Summary: Elle Bishop meets Lucas Terry

Timeline situation: Around the beginning of 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's notes: Last chapter I mentioned the isotope system. I know that it has been destroyed by Hana Gitelman before these events took place, but I thought it was safe to assume they had started up a new one.]

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas opened his eyes. The room was well-lit, but everything was blurry. He instinctively reached for his glasses, but his hands didn't find the bedside table. Confused, he rolled on his side, slightly closing his eyes to get a better view. His heart started pounding.

"This isn't my room," he thought, noticing that he was being held in a white room with one large window. He started panicking. He walked over to what he believed to be the chamber door and started knocking.

"Hello?" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Is anybody here?"

Nobody responded, and Lucas walked back to his bed. He searched for any kind of note or announcement that would give him an indication of where he was or who had taken him here.

"The Russians," Lucas thought. "They must have done this to me. I should've reported their asses to the police when I had the chance!" Lucas knocked on the walls out of frustration.

With nothing else to do and barely anything to see, he decided to lay himself down on his bed some more. Sleep was one of his least favoured pastimes, but it would have to do without his XBOX360 near. Problem was, he couldn't sleep. His heart kept pounding in his chest, wondering what was going to happen to him. He suspected it had something to do with his hand turning black the other day... Suddenly he realized he didn't know what time it was. Was it day? Or night? And what date was it? For all he knew, he had been here for over a week. Would his parents be searching him? Or would they have concocted some vicious scheme, with a 'goodbye-note' and such. Maybe the entire UK was searching him, which led him to his next question. Where was he, in fact? Russia, maybe? That Ivan and Maarten guy talked with a heavy Russian accent, and he suspected it was them who had taken him. But as long as he couldn't speak to anyone, he would never find out.

Lucas sighed, and closed his eyes. All he could do for the moment, was wait...

XXX___XXX___XXX

"You'll get used to it," Elle(*) said looking back at Peter Petrelli(**), who was still feeling his lips after being zapped. "And then you'll start to like it," she added with a vicious grin. She closed the door, and walked off. "Cute boy," she thought. "But stubborn, I suspect. No matter, I like a challenge."

She stopped at the next cell, checking through the window. Adam Monroe stared right at her, voicelessly uttering curses. Elle grinned, walked on to the next room. She looked through the window, and saw the boy sleeping. From the moment they brought him in she thought he looked weird, with his long hair and semi-beard. He had the look of someone who didn't take care of himself; and Elle, for all her sociopathic tendencies, didn't like people who looked like bums.

And this one certainly did.

She entered the room and sat herself down on the ground with her back leaning against the wall. She formed a gun with her right hand and generated a tiny spark of electricity. She zapped him right through the nose, effectively waking him up. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his nose. "Wha-?" he began.

"Hush, Lucas," Elle said.

"You know my name?" he asked, peering at her, but barely distinguishing her figure.

"Apparently. I know that, and a whole lot more about you. In fact, I think I have a better understanding of what you are than you have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas returned, frowning.

"You think you're ordinary. I'm here to tell you you're... extraordinary."

"Yeah right," he snorted. "You're an American. But you're with the Russians, aren't you? Same level of bullshit."

"Russians?" Elle asked.

"Ivan and Maarten. Old guy with a beard and a brown-haired dude with a moustache."

"Oh, I see," she answered, nodding her head. "You're not as stupid as you look, you know."

"Oh, you think I look stupid? Why don't you come a bit closer so I can see your face. If you claim to know so much about me, you should know I can't see a goddamn thing without my glasses."

"I know. I've got some lenses here for you. Those will look a whole lot better on you," she said, slowly getting up.

"Who are you to tell me how I should look?" Lucas asked, getting mad.

"I'm the only one you'll see for quite a while. I'm also going to give you a haircut and a decent shave, because really, you look awful."

"You're not touching me," Lucas said defiantly.

"Oh, I think you will," Elle said. "It's either a haircut, or a hairburn," she added, and she raised her hands, slowly generating some electricity between her fingers and petting it with the top of her thumb.

"Holy..." Lucas shouted, instinctively backing away from her, pressing his back against the wall. Even with his imperfect sight he could see what she had just done. "Get away from me," he screamed with fear in his eyes.

"What's the matter?" Ella laughed, "are you scared?"

"What are you? You're not natural!"

"On the contrary, I am very natural. Even my hair and my breasts. As to the question 'what are you?' I have only one answer: the same as you."

"You gotta be shitting me. I can't produce... whatever it is you do with your fingers."

"No, but you're _like_ me. Just like me, you are evolved."

"Dear oh dear, not that again," Lucas mumbled.

"You have an ability to do something supernatural. Something regular people can only dream of."

"Well, I can dream quite a lot," Lucas rebutted, "but I could never do that in real life."

"No, not everything of course," Elle admitted. "But you can do _something_."

"Like what?"

"Well, from what we've seen of you, you're a shape shifter."

"Wh-? Jesus, pull the other one, will you? A shape shifter," Lucas said, barely able to contain his laugh, if not for fear of the woman opposite him.

"You remember your hand turning black?" Elle asked him. "You, or rather a part of you, changed into part of another human being."

"Wallace Stone," Lucas suddenly remembered. "I shook his hand, and..."

"You must have started shifting into his appearance after thinking of him," Elle completed his sentence. "Right?"

Lucas thought long and hard. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he realised she was right. His hand did change when thinking about Professor Stone. And the hand that appeared was indeed his. It was a bit too much for him to handle, and Elle could tell by the look of him. His face grew even paler than usual.

"Look," Elle said, coming closer to him, "I know it's not easy to accept, but you'll learn to live with it. In fact, you might even benefit from it. No?"

Lucas thought it through. Being able to alter his appearance was something he had dreamt of, of course. And indeed, it could have its benefits if you knew how. But it seemed unnatural, not applicable to someone like him. All his life he had just been... Lucas. He had been bullied, looked down upon, mediocre... Hearing that he was extraordinary, capable of powers others could only dream of was both frightening and exciting

"Then why am I here?" Lucas asked her

"Well," Elle explained, "as you must realize, shape shifters can form a threat to regular society. We've taken you here..."

"Where exactly is here?" Lucas intervened.

"Primatech, New York," Elle answered. "We've taken you here to train you in the use of your power."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Quite frankly, we believe you can be useful to us. We would like to train you as one of our Company Agents."

"Is that what those men were?"

"Ivan and Maarten? Indeed, they are two of our longest serving agents."

"Do they have powers as well?"

"Yep. Well, Ivan hasn't, but Maarten has."

"Which one?" Lucas asked. He was getting more and more excited by the minute

"Pyrokinesis. Which means he's able to conjure and control fire."

"Cool. But... if you intend to train me, won't my parents notice I'm gone? And what about school, and such?"

"Don't worry about that," Elle comforted him. "They won't even notice you're gone."

"How so?"

"Another shape shifter shifted into you, and took your place."

"They won't buy into that," Lucas sceptically said.

"We'll see... For now, though, we need to keep you here."

"For what?"

"Observation."

"I thought you were going to train me."

"Yes. Later. First: a haircut. And a shave. And some lenses. Now get over here," Elle said, and she sat herself down on Lucas' bed. Rather reluctantly, Lucas sat himself down next to her. He had never been comfortable with girls around him, certainly not so close. But at least she seemed to appreciate him for what he was, and apart from John and his parents, no one had ever done that before. So Lucas gave in to her, and he let her hands go through his hair, softly cutting his locks, until he had nearly no hair left. He didn't like it, but if he had to choose between having his hair cut or burnt by blue sparks, the choice was easy. Lucas was still a bit afraid of her, particularly because he suspected she could burn him into a crisp if she chose to.

He thought about John, how he had been right about evolved people with abilities. He still had trouble believing it, but he had seen himself change and this woman emit blue sparks out of her fingers. Being in denial was not a real option either. And somehow, it excited him.

He had never thought of himself as extraordinary or capable of anything special. Yet here he was, taken in by people who believed he was, and that he could be of use to them. So Lucas was going to try, at least. He was going to try and make his parents proud.

"So, why all this secrecy?" Lucas asked Elle, who was still wrestling with his long, thick, stubborn locks.

"Would you have come here out of free will?" she asked him. "Would you have come, knowing that we'd keep you in a cell to train you in the ways of altering your shape?"

"Hm, I think not," Lucas admitted.

"There," Elle eventually said, "that should do it," and she let go of Lucas' head. He felt his hair with his fingers. He was startled by the feeling of it, it almost felt as if he were bald, that's how short it was.

"Did you really have to cut it like that?"

"Too short for your liking? I like guys with short hair, and it looks good on you. You're ten times as handsome," Elle said, and she meant it. She actually thought he was quite attractive with his short hair. "Now just a shave."

"I still can't see a damn thing," Lucas reminded her.

"Oh yes, that's right," Elle remembered, and she took 2 small pots with lenses out of her pockets. "Sit still", she said when Lucas backed his head away.

"You're gonna poke me in the eye," he complained.

"No, I'm not. Now sit still!"

The menacing tone in her voice made him do so, but he felt extremely uncomfortable, especially because her head was very close to his now. She slowly tried to put in the lens, but it didn't work.

"Don't close your eyes!" she said.

"Sorry," Lucas returned. Elle tried again, and this time the lens stuck to his left eyeball.

"Now you can close your eye. And keep it closed, or it might come off. First time's never easy."

"Sure," Lucas mumbled, doing as she told him. After a few attempts, the right lens also fitted, and for the first time ever, he saw the world without glasses. And it was also the first time he clearly saw Elle. His heart skipped a few beats. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined.

[Author's notes: For more information on both Elle and Peter, refer to the Heroes Wiki.]


	8. Severing fire from heat

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 7 – Severing fire from heat

Chapter Summary: John is surprised by Lucas' 'sudden' change of character and their friendship becomes troubled.

Timeline situation: Around the beginning of 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's Notes: Maybe this chapter is a bit too short, but ah well... Lots more coming, no worries! This chapter might not be what you expect, but it just popped up inside my head and I wanted to do something with it. We'll see how it evolves.]

XXX___XXX___XXX

John rang the Terry doorbell. He had barely slept tonight after what happened yesterday. Lucas said he needed time to think, which was all John had been doing since leaving this house.

It was half past seven in the morning now, which meant Lucas should be ready by now to go to school. He rang the doorbell again, as nobody opened.

"Curious," John thought and he took the key Lucas had given him a couple of weeks ago. They trusted each other enough for that. He went inside and was greeted by an eerie silence.

"Hello?" John called up the stairs. He didn't get a reply. He walked through to the living room, which was empty. "Strange," he whispered, and decided to go and check upstairs. He knocked on Lucas' bedchamber door and entered after getting no reply. It was empty as well.

"What the..." he mumbled, and exited the room. He then knocked on Lucas' parents' door, also getting no reply. He checked inside, and saw both Frank and Sharon Terry lying peacefully in their beds, very much asleep. John worried for a moment something bad had happened, but the going up and down of the sheets was proof they were still breathing normally. He shook Frank's shoulder, who woke up after 10 seconds. It was obvious he had been sleeping very deeply.

"Huh, wh-?" Frank murmured as he opened his eyes. "John? What are you doing here?" noticing the teenager next to his bed.

"Do you know where Lucas is?" he asked.

"Not a clue," Frank admitted, and he laid down his head on the pillow. "God, I'm so tired." He started snoring 5 seconds later.

"This is weird," John whispered, and decided to leave the house. His guess was that Lucas had already left for school. But they had been going together for over 13 years. He was afraid Lucas had ran away off to somewhere. "Or what if-", he thought, "what if those Russians... Nah, they can't have. He's probably just at school already."

XXX___XXX___XXX

John walked through the school gates, his eyes scouting the playground area. The bench Lucas normally occupied was empty. He had tried calling Lucas a couple of times, but his phone was switched off. "Damn it, Luke, where are you?" he whispered. He was getting extremely worried now. Because even if Lucas was here, the fact he didn't see him and the fact he wasn't near him were troubling. Lucas got picked on a lot by scum like Stagnetti, and John had a feeling the Italian-born had found him first.

He saw a group of people gathering around the toilets, and his instincts told him this was relevant. He decided to go and check it out.

"What's going on here?" John asked a girl at the back of the crowd.

"Stagnetti's trying to flush someone's head through the toilet," the girl giggled. "Funny, innit?"

"What?" John shouted, and he started to push through the crowd. He had a bad feeling about this... And as soon as he busted through the people it appeared he was right. He saw Stagnetti and some other guy holding Lucas by the shoulders. The kid was struggling not to have his head put in the toilet.

John lost it. He rushed forward, tackling Stagnetti by the knee. He heard something snap, but he didn't care. The crowd around them started to scream in excitement and chanted 'Fight! Fight fight!' Lucas fell to the ground, and Stagnetti's pal released him. John crawled on top of Stagnetti and started hammering on his face. Blood came out of his nose, but John kept hitting him, and Stagnetti kept screaming. The Italian's friends rushed to his aid, and dragged John off of their self-appointed leader. They were four, but John was overcome with a bestial rage he had never felt before. He had the body and strength of a professional swimmer, which meant he was a lot stronger and tougher than most guys his age. He knocked one of them out cold with a right-hand blow. There were three of them left, of which one hit John in the stomach. His abdominal muscles caught the blow without any problem however, and John head butted him. He pushed him against a wall and he hit a radiator with his back. He screamed and fell to the ground. John looked at the other two, who had become hesitant about attacking him, after just seeing him dispatch three of their comrades.

"What's all this here!?" John heard a voice behind him shout. It was one of their teachers, and his mouth dropped when he saw Stagnetti and the two others on the floor. "Mulrooney," come with me right away!" he shouted. "All of you, get out here!" he shouted at the crowd that had been watching the fight. "And you two, keep your friends company," he told the other two. "Lucas, you can go to the school nurse. Quickly now!"

Without saying anything, Lucas went off, not even looking at John. He was a bit vexed by Lucas ignoring him. He had stood up for him after all; but he suspected it was just the emotion overtaking Lucas as well.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Three men into the hospital. A broken knee, a broken nose, a cracked skull and a fractured jaw. That's quite the resume, Mulrooney," the principal said. "You do realise you're in big trouble, don't you?" he added.

"I do, sir," John answered. "But they were picking on a defenceless guy, I couldn't just let them do it."

"So you decided to attack them?" the headmaster sceptically asked.

"Sir, guys like Stagnetti don't respond to words."

"Look, I won't deny that. I've known the kid for a long time, and he has been trouble ever since he arrived at this school. He's a bully, he's rude, he's a criminal. But I simply can't condone your actions here, you understand that, right?"

"I do, sir, but I don't regret what I did. It needed to be done."

"Maybe. I'm well aware that Lucas has suffered under Stagnetti's bullying, and I will look into this carefully. But you need to be punished all the same. You broke his knee, for God's sakes!"

"Are you going to expel me then?" John asked, a bit frightened.

"Possibly," the headmaster admitted. "As I said, I'll need to look into this. You can go now, Mulrooney."

"Yes, sir," he said, getting out of his chair. He made his way to the door, when the principal shouted something at him.

"Oh, and Mulrooney. Watch your back. Stagnetti has a lot of friends, if you know what I mean."

"Thanks, sir. I will."

XXX___XXX___XXX

After school was finished, John made his way to Lucas' home. He rang the doorbell and it was Frank Terry who opened.

"Hi there, John!" he said as he saw him. "You know, I think I dreamt about you tonight."

"That's... kind of you to day so," John smiled. "Lucas upstairs?"

"Yep, should be. Has been acting all strange though. Got home early from school, looked a bit upset. Said he didn't want to talk about it. Not exactly friendly either. Anyway, he's upstairs, you know the way."

"Sure do," John said, entering the house and going upstairs. "Luke?" he shouted, knocking on the door.

"Go away!" was the reaction, which baffled John. This sure was a first...

He opened the door, and saw Lucas sitting on his bed, reading 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger. "Strange," John thought. "He only reads comics, and certainly no women's books..."

"I told you to go away," Lucas crossly shouted at him.

"Hey, calm down, pal, I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm great, never been better. Now get out!"

"Wh-? Hey, Lucas, come on!"

"Are you deaf, or just unbelievably stubborn?" Lucas screamed, getting up. "I told you to get out! Now!" he added, his pale cheeks turning red in anger.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Just call me when you've calmed down and want to talk about it, okay?" John said, slowly leaving the room.

"I wouldn't count on it, if I were you. And don't come back," to which he slammed the door shut. John stood in the corridor for a moment, his jaw dropping. He had never seen Lucas quite like this. He stumbled down the stairs, his mind racing with 'why's' and 'how come's'.

"There a problem up there?" Frank Terry shouted out of the living room.

"No, mister," John shouted back. "No problem. I'm out now."

"See you," Lucas' father roared.

"Not likely," John whispered as he closed the door behind him.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"What's the matter?" John's mother Christy asked her son. "You've been down ever since you got back from school. You barely ate, you barely talked, ... What's going on?"

John didn't really want to talk about it. His parents hadn't gotten a phone call from school yet, so they didn't know he got in a fight. And he didn't exactly want to tell her about Lucas' strange behaviour.

But it was true he was feeling down. Lucas and him never really argued before. They had argued sure, but not like this; it was as if he had become another person. The Lucas he knew wasn't talkative, but they could always talk to each other. Even when somebody had purposefully broken Lucas' glasses they had talked about it. Why Lucas was being like this, John didn't know.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, meaning he received a text message. It read "wan com 2 da club 2nt? Lts o birds cmn ;)" by Michael Frater, one of his friends at the swimming club. He indeed remembered there was a party going on there, but he hadn't planned on visiting. But now he felt like he could use something to distract him.

"sure, b there 8" he messaged back. Not that he was a girl-hopper, but the break-up with Wu had let him a bit frustrated, so he wanted to go and do something about it. A new girlfriend might be just the thing he needed. And it would take his mind off of Lucas' strange behaviour as well. Still, he was certain that the current state his best friend was in was not a permanent one. Some time alone might even be beneficial for both of them.

Suddenly the phone rang. John's mother hurried herself towards the phone.

"Hello, Mrs. Mulrooney here. About John? What about him?"

John understood that was his cue to leave. He silently made his way towards the front door and he was outside before his mother started shouting. He'd probably get grounded for a month, so he decided to make the best of his night out. He had time to kill, though, it was only half past six.

When he made his way towards the underground, he walked past Lucas' house. He threw a look at where his friend's room was. He saw the curtains move. John sighed, and descended the stairs into the subway.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Fran quickly closed the curtains as she saw John peek at the window. As geeky and as weird as this Lucas kid was, she believed this John fellow made up for it. Of course she had regretted it when she had kicked him out of her room; especially after his fighting display at school. Fran loved tough guys, and he sure was one, even without an ability of any kind. When she was in her room, she preferred shifting back to her normal self; with the door locked of course. She knew she wasn't exactly much to look at, but that was the great thing about being a shape shifter: she could be anyone she liked. And she could do anything she liked. And right now, she wanted to have some fun; after all, Ivan had not forbidden that. She got out of her room, and slowly crept down the stairs. She shifted her vocal cords into those of Lucas so that they would reproduce his vocal sounds.

"Mom, dad, I'm going out."

Before they could answer, Fran snuck out the door and ran away, towards the subway. She hoped she could still follow John.

To her satisfaction, she found him sitting on a bench, waiting for the train. She silently admired him. She had met a lot of boys in her missions for the Company, but this one was particularly interesting to her. His natural physical strength, his boyish good looks, his loyalty to his friends,... Yes, Fran was already warmed up to him. She had become a master manipulator over the years. She was sure she could wrap him around her finger and play with him like a cat plays with a ball of wool. She had some very interesting shapes in her back pocket. She could turn into women so beautiful that no man would be able to resist her. Personally, she believed love was foolish. But it was fun to take advantage of it. Love could turn the most rational, modest man into a jealous, rash son of a bitch. She didn't like love, but she did like the tricks it could play on someone's mind. And she had picked out her next victim; she would not rest before he would do anything for her. And then she'd have a nice, shiny new toy to play with.

[Author's notes: This chapter was an idea for a whole new storyline that popped into my mind. Thought it could be interesting, otherwise John, as a character, would be neglected and wasted. Next chapter will be about Lucas at the Company, and it will continue with the JohnxFran storyline.]


	9. Manipulation

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 7 – Manipulation

Chapter Summary: Both John and Lucas find themselves on the receiving end of Company mind games.

Timeline situation: Around the beginning of 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's notes: This chapter contains without a doubt the best pun in Heroes history. First one to find it gets a lot of respect from me personally!

Oh; and please note that this story is completely unbeta'd. So if there are any mistakes or errors, I'm sorry!]

XXX___XXX___XXX

The footsteps in the corridor instantly alerted Lucas. He jumped out of his bed and waited for the door to open. He had been in here for about three days now, according to his calculations. He got fed once a day by Elle, which led him to believe it was at least evening now. He was extremely hungry as always, but that was the least of his concern.

The keys tinkled and soon the door opened. It was Elle, with a tray in her hands.

"Dinner time!" she said with a smile. Lucas however, could not muster the will nor strength to lift the corners of his mouth.

"Look, Elle," he began, gathering all of his courage. He had been afraid of girls all his life, being shy and withdrawn altogether. And the girls he had previously known could not create electricity with their bare hands. So he was pretty horrified at the moment. "I've been in here for three days," he cautiously continued, "and I haven't seen anyone besides you."

"What, you don't like looking at me?" Elle flirtatiously grinned.

"That's not it," Lucas quickly reciprocated, with a heavy blush starting to form on his cheeks, "it's just that you said I was here to be trained. But... when? And how? If I'm stuck in here, I..."

"Hey, relax!" Elle calmed him down, putting the tray on the floor, "your time will come, don't worry. It's not easy arranging those things, you know."

"I realise that," Lucas nodded, "but... I'm so bored in here. There's not a thing for me to do. I'd like to talk to whoever's in charge here, so I at least know what I can look forward to."

Elle sighed, and sat herself on Lucas' bed, gesturing he had to come sit next to her. He hesitantly did so, although he kept a respectful distance.

"I'll talk to my d... To the boss," Elle said.

"Promise?" Lucas asked with a faint smile.

"I promise," she answered. "I know it can't be easy for you, so I'll try to do my best. Okay? But you gotta keep going!"

"Yeah..." Lucas mumbled. "I just miss my friend. And my parents."

"Don't worry about that," Elle assured him once again. "They're doing just fine, and when you are a fully-trained Company Agent, you can work in the UK and have a full-time job without even having to graduate! Many guys your age would love to do that. But then, almost no one is as special as you are," she said, looking Lucas into the eyes. Lucas continued to blush, which made Elle smile. He broke the eye contact, and was left with a strange feeling in his gut. Something he had barely ever felt before. Elle was without a shadow of a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with her attractive features and long blonde hairs. She looked like a classy girl, but Lucas couldn't shake off the feeling that she was a ruthless as a raging lion. He didn't know if the way she flirted with him was an act or not. He wanted to believe it wasn't, but he had reasons enough to assume it was. It wouldn't be the first time a girl warmed up to him, only to reveal it had been a prank later.

"So erm," Lucas said, feeling painfully uncomfortable, "I'll get to see the boss today, then?"

"Possibly," Elle answered. "I'll ask him."

"Good."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Bob Bishop heard someone knock on his door. He waited a couple of seconds before answering, shouting a loud "Enter". The door opened, and Maarten stepped inside the room.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Bishop?"

"Absolutely," he replied, gesturing Maarten to take a seat. Once the moustached flamethrower sat down, Bob smiled. "Do you have any idea what this is about?" he asked.

Maarten shook his head. "No, sir."

"I regret to inform you that The Company will no longer be needing your services."

Maarten raised his eyebrows. "And why is that?"

"Well, Maarten, you have worked for us for over 25 years now, and you have an impeccable service record. This is a favour I'm doing you. Your age of retirement has come, and so we plan to release you. We will foresee a house for you back in Russia, and..."

"Bullshit. You wanna get rid of me," Maarten interrupted. "I'm no fool, Bob. Ivan made you do this, didn't he?"

Bob looked away from Maarten, a bit ashamed he was onto them. He decided there was no point in continuing to lie. "Look, agent Ivan has informed me of your, at best, questionable actions, decisions and remarks. He told me you were on the brink of insubordination and that he was afraid you might turn against the mission."

"Hmpf," Maarten snorted. "On the brink of insubordination. Bullshit. I questioned him because I believed he didn't do the right thing for the target. That's what The Company aims to do, isn't it?"

"Yes," Bob admitted, "but we are doing the right thing for him. I've read his profiles, both psychological and social. We're taking him in while no one else will. You've seen how society rejects him, haven't you? We're going to train him, make sure he has people he can work with, rely on, trust. You've read his school reports; he's not intelligent or smart, he doesn't study a lot. We can provide him with work, make sure he has an income. He can be of use to us, and we can be of use to him. It's a mutual arrangement that has mutual benefits."

"A mutual arrangement without his consent, and mutual benefits he has no need of. And if you're in such need of Agents, why are you letting me go?"

"Look," Bob crossly said, "I don't think you realise how flexible we are being here. When we suspect an agent of treason, we normally eliminate him. It was at Ivan's personal request that you be given a chance to withdraw voluntarily. We are going to give you a house in Russia, where you can go live with your sister. We're going to give you a monthly allowance you both can easily and comfortably live off. It'll be less than your current wage, sure, but I think you don't appreciate the efforts we've made to make this an agreeable termination of your Primatech contract."

"No golden handshake?"

"Funny," Bob said, his facial expression not moving a fraction of an inch.

"Look, I understand the effort you've made. But that doesn't mean I have to like you brushing me aside like this. This accusation is based upon one single mission where I merely had the target's best interests at heart. I don't think the other agents with abilities will be pleased with the way I've been treated either."

"Do I have to take that as a threat?" Bob remarked, tightening his eyelids.

"Not at all. It's just a word of warning," Maarten corrected him. "But it's clear I have no more say in this. So I accept the agreement you're bullying me into."

"Good," Bob said. "I wouldn't have wanted this to end badly. Or ugly. Or both."

Both men were interrupted by a young blonde that stepped into Bob Bishop's office. She seemed a bit tense.

"Elle?" Bob asked, surprised. "I'm in a meeting here. This had better be important girl!"

"Sorry, dad. But he wants to talk to you. Now."

"Who?" Maarten asked.

"That is not your concern," Bob said. "You are no longer a Company Agent and therefore you shouldn't meddle into our affairs any longer. Elle," he continued, addressing his daughter, "why does he want to see me?"

"He says he's bored and wants to know when you'll begin his training. I'm afraid that the longer we wait, the less likely he'll be willing to accept our offer."

"In other words, you're suggesting I talk to him," Bob smiled.

"I think that'd be in our best interest. And his as well. We don't want him to get suspicious."

"Yes, first of all because he doesn't need to be suspicious."

"Then why are you holding him in a cell?" Maarten intervened, guessing they were talking about Lucas Terry, the boy Ivan and him had kidnapped earlier.

"Former agent Maarten," Bob said, his cheeks glowing red, "you are hereby to be escorted to your residence, where you will be allowed to collect your personal belongings. From there, you shall be taken to the nearest airport and never set foot on American soil again; do you understand me?" Bob pressed a button, and two security guards immediately came inside the room.

"Sure," Maarten said, getting up. "I'll hold my end of the deal, if you do the same."

Without wasting any more words, Maarten and the guards stepped outside. Bob focused his attention on his daughter.

"Elle, bring the Terry kid to me. I'll see him now."

"Sure," she said, walking off elegantly.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"So he's the boss?" Lucas asked in front of Bob Bishop's office.

"Absolutely," Elle confirmed. "Be careful of what you say to him, though. He can be a bit... impulsive and rude."

"Oh, I'm used to that," Lucas smiled.

"Good," Elle grinned and she opened the door. "Mr. Bishop, this is Lucas Terry," she formally addressed her father.

"Ah, yes, excellent," Bob said, gesturing they both had to come in. "Nice to finally meet you," he told Lucas, extending his hand. Lucas shook it, and he took a seat in front of the desk.

"Now," Bob began, "you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes," Lucas said, "I basically just wanted to know what I can expect out of this. I mean, I had my doubts at first, but I really wanna try to make the most of it, but... I just need a prospect, you know what I mean, sir? Something to look forward to... In the near future."

"I most definitely know what you mean," Bob said in a friendly way. He then pressed a button on his desk. "Mary, send Kevin in, would you?"

"Who's Kevin?" Lucas curiously asked.

"He'll be your personal trainer," Bob answered.

"Does he have an ability as well?"

"No, he does not. You see, my boy, Primatech has a very specific way of working. Whenever we deploy a unit out in the field, we send one person with an ability, and another without one."

"Why's that?"

"Regulations; control; tradition;... There are lots of reasons," Bob explained. "But nothing you need to concern yourself with yet."

"So this Kevin guy is going to train me?"

"It's Mr. O'Keefe to you," Bob reprimanded him.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said, his blush returning again.

"No matter," Bob smiled. "You're new, you'll get used to it."

"But how can he train me in the use of my ability if he doesn't have one?"

"The reason I'm putting you with Mr. O'Keefe is because his former partner was a shape shifter. But the poor man got killed a couple of weeks ago. His death left us with almost no shape shifters in the Company's resources, that's part of the reason we're so interested in acquiring your services, Lucas. He knows enough about shape shifting to be able to help you, I think."

"Great..." Lucas mumbled. "Sounds cool. You know, I still have trouble believing it."

"Many people revel in disbelief. It's not the right course to take. You should free your mind of the restrictions of everyday life, Lucas. Because the real world knows no boundaries. Not to people like you and me. We see something that defies the law of physics, logic and common beliefs every day. In time, nothing surprises us anymore."

As Bob finished his sentence, a tall man came in. He seemed to be in his late thirties. He was bald and had a very distinguishable scar from his right ear to the corner of his mouth. He wore a long, brown jacket that reached his looked like he could break a grown man in half with his right hand. He sat himself down next to Lucas, nodding at Bob as a manner of greeting. Lucas didn't like him at all.

"This is Kevin O'Keefe, Lucas," Bob introduced him. Kevin nodded at Lucas; he himself didn't do anything. "He'll be the one training you. I trust the two of you will get along well. Now, Kevin, will you please take Lucas out of here? Then the two of you can start off right away."

"Sure," Kevin said with a surprisingly high voice for a man his size. "Come," he ordered, and left the room again. Bob gestured Lucas to follow him. When both guys had disappeared, Elle smiled.

"Well played, dad," she said.

"That's what I do best," Bob grinned.

XXX___XXX___XXX

John entered the room where the party took place. There was a lot of space, over 200 people could fit in easily. He made his way through the crowd, looking for someone he could talk with. The music, heavy drum 'n bass was already ringing in his ears.  
He saw two of his friends from the swimming team. He walked over to them and said hello. They greeted him with a wide smile.

"Yo, John, how ya doin'?" a short fellow by the name of Marcus shouted at him, barely making himself understandable through the noisy music.

"All good," John answered.

"Not for long, though, I think," the other guy, Tony, grinned.

"How come?" John asked.

"After what you did to Stagnetti? Come on, he's out for you, man. You better watch out," was the answer.

"I think Stagnetti will have to wait a couple of months before he can make a move," John reacted, trying to act tough.

"You think Stagnetti's going to wait that long?" Marcus asked, raising his eyebrows. "It's no secret he only gets his hands dirty when he knows he can handle things personally. From what I heard, you beat up him and four of his pals."

"True, he's got enough goons running out there," Tony agreed. "His father's basically a mobster, I think he ain't gonna be too happy about what you did to his little boy either."

"Well, let them come," John shrugged. "I don't regret what I did. And if something bad happens to me, at least I know they'll be punished for it."

"Don't know about that, the Stagnetti family basically controls Manchester," Tony intervened.

"I think you severely overestimate his influence, Tony."

"We'll just see about that."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Fran stood outside the swimming club's main building, where the party was being held. She had just seen John going in. She stood out of plain sight, where no one could see her shift her appearance. She slowly started. She had created this form a couple of years back and had noticed that no hot-blooded male was able to resist it. It contained the most beautiful parts of celebrities and models she had touched. She was an extremely advanced shape shifter and was able to mix parts of appearances to create an entirely unique one.

She was a tall blonde, with beautiful eyes, full lips, a small nose and big breasts. As she stepped from behind her cover she immediately felt eyes fall upon her. That's the nice thing about being a shape shifter. She could hide in plain sight. As she strode towards the entrance in the most elegant fashion she could conjure, she thought about how she was going to handle this.

"I'll improvise," she grinned when she entered. The noise fell upon her ears as a hammer to the temple. "Ugh, drum 'n bass," Fran thought. She was almost fifty years of age, and had spent her teenage years in the seventies. She was more into disco and all that stuff. She had some second thoughts about seducing a guy that could be her son, but all things considered, it could prove to be a nice challenge; and a nice distraction if nothing else. She usually wasn't so careless about assignments, but part of her wanted to get back at the Company for putting her in this position. And having as much fun as possible was one way to do that.

She had no problems getting through the crowd. Most went out of her way to get a better look at her. There were an awful lot of boys and very few, according to her tastes, attractive girls. So she wasn't exactly surprised. It took her only a couple of minutes to find her target. He was chatting to two of his pals, with his back towards her. As she approached him, she noticed his friends stopped paying attention to what he was saying, focusing on her instead. She concealed a grin. Let the games begin.

"So I thought maybe that... Are you guys paying any attention at all?" John asked when he saw Tony and Marcus' eyes wander off. Suddenly he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He turned around, and it felt like someone had thrown a cup of hot water in his face. A warm feeling came over him, dripping from his eyes to his gut, from his gut to his genitals, from his genitals to his toes. He had to blink twice before he truly believed what he saw. She looked like an angel without the halo or white dress. She was without a shadow of a doubt the single most beautiful and attractive woman he had ever seen.

"Hi, I'm Rachel," she said.

"Erm, hello," John stuttered. "You, erm... New here? Never seen you before. I think I would remember," he added with a smile as cute as he could possibly muster.

She smiled as well. "Yes, I'm new in town as a matter of fact."

"You're from the States, aren't you?" John asked, noticing her accent.

"Yep," the fake Rachel confessed. "From Aurora, Colorado as a matter of fact."

"What brings you to Britain?" John kept on going, noticing that his two friends were silently gaping at her. He also noticed a lot of people were looking at the both of them, and not all looks were friendly. He didn't really care. She came to him out of her own free will. John knew that meant she saw interested in him. And he was taking this opportunity with both hands.

"Family, mostly. And friends. Well, I don't have any of them here. I kinda fled from those in the USA. Came to Manchester, I heard there was a party here, and decided to check it out. That's about it."

"Cool," John said. "Say, care to go somewhere a little bit less noisy?" he suggested, amazed at his own flirtatious audacity.

"Absolutely," she agreed.

"Let's go, then. Catch you guys later," he yelled over his shoulder.  
Fran, still in her Rachel-shape decided to turn up the heat. As John led the way, she grabbed his hand. She could feel he startled a bit. This was going to be easy. She was a bit disappointed, but it didn't really matter. She predicted they were going to have loads of fun...

[Author's notes: Things are getting a bit scrambled, chronologically speaking. I'll try to clarify things next chapter. Basically, for now, Lucas' story is a few days ahead of John's.  
Next chapter: Lucas gets training for the first time. And it's not really what he had hoped.]


	10. To be Company

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 8 – To be Company

Chapter Summary: Kevin O'Keefe trains Lucas in the ways of shape shifting and hand-to-hand combat. And neither is really happy with it.

Timeline situation: Around the beginning of 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's notes: We're gonna make some jumps in time here. No ability-powered jumps however ;-) Just a fast-forward of some kind.]

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Right," Kevin told Lucas, "let me just tell you what we're going to do. A shape shifter relies on cunning and stealth. He's a defensive agent, one who does not rely on physical strength, brute force or assassination methods."

Lucas nodded, though he was surprised. Kevin had taken Lucas to some sort of gym after all.

"Of course," Kevin continued, "that's how it is in theory. Some targets will outsmart you, no matter how hard you try. Some will be on to you. Some will make you the target and make you the one being hunted."

Lucas swallowed. He just nodded, though Kevin wasn't exactly making him feel comfortable.

"That's why a shape shifter needs, at least, to be able to defend himself should it come to blows. So I'm going to teach you..."

"Karate?" Lucas intervened, raising his eyebrows. He didn't exactly envision himself as a fighter.

"Karate's for pussies," Kevin rudely answered. And seeing you don't have much upper strength and I don't have much time to buff you up, I'm going to teach you something more advanced. I just hope you can remember these stances and attacks as well as you can remember ultimate combo's on SoulCalibur IV."

Lucas blushed. How on earth could he know that? Lucas was one of the first people in the world to be able to figure those out for every single character. He presumed they had a background file on him, and that this Kevin had read it thoroughly before meeting him. In any case, it looked like he didn't have a high opinion of him.

"What I'm going to teach you is the king of fighting sports. Ever heard of pencak silat?"

"Heard about it, yes," Lucas admitted. "Or read about it, rather. In Tom Clancy's Net Force. Awesome series of b..."

"Good, then you will at least understand what I'm saying," Kevin interrupted. "That's a start, if nothing else."

"But how is it going to help me develop my ability?" Lucas wondered out loud.

"Silat focuses on both the physical and mental aspect of man. If you truly want to master it, you're going to have control your mind. Learn to do that, and you will be able to shift your shape no problem."

"Do all Company Agents get silat training?" Lucas asked.

"Only those that get trained by me. Which means you and my former partner, who is currently deceased and will remain so for as long as the universe lives on. And you know why? He got sloppy. I'm here to make sure you don't. Of course, it's impossible to master this fighting style in a couple of weeks. It takes a supremely talented athlete years to even grasp the pure basics. So, let's begin... It goes a little something like this!"

Exactly one second later, Lucas was lying flat on his back, with Kevin O'Keefe's knee hovering over his face.

"Whoa.." Lucas whispered.

"Your turn," Kevin whispered back, with a vicious grin on his face.

XXX__XXX___XXX

"Until tomorrow then," Kevin said, dropping Lucas' off at his cell.

"Thanks," Lucas answered, holding his back in agony. He had learned some of the basic stances and counters, although there was still a lot of work to be done, and he wasn't sure at all if he could reproduce them tomorrow. Kevin O'Keefe sure was a hard teacher. He had floored him 697 times, all of which were relentless attacks. Lucas was surprised he was even able to walk after this treatment. And the prospect of going through the same thing for the next coming weeks, maybe even months, startled him. And he also didn't know anything about his power yet.

"Ah, well, at least it can't get any worse than this," Lucas thought as he laid himself down on his bed. He suddenly heard a knock on his window. He looked up and saw Elle standing there with a tray. Dinner-time. "See? Things are already looking up," he murmured with a wry smile.

"Hi," Elle enthusiastically said as she walked in, putting the tray on the floor as always. "How was your day?"

"I wish I never asked you to go and see the boss. Then maybe I wouldn't have received this training," Lucas sighed. "It's already killing me, and it's only day one..."

"Yes, Kevin's a hard one," Elle admitted. She sat herself down on Lucas' bed as she almost always did. Lucas started to feel uncomfortable again. "She truly is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he thought.

"Why don't you roll on your front?" Elle suggested. "I'll rub the stiffness out."

"Erm, what?" Lucas asked, the blood rushing to his head again.

Elle giggled. "You're cute when you blush like that. Roll over, shy stuff!"

"Okaaay," Lucas slowly pronounced, as he rolled over. He felt Elle's hands going over his back, first with a soft smoothness, then with a ferocious strength that massaged his muscles. His deltoids and other muscles that had previously felt like violin snares now felt like overcooked spaghetti. Lucas accidentally let out a mean.

"Yeah, that feels good, doesn't it?" Elle said, giggling again.

"Oh yeah..." was the answer. Lucas couldn't help but be extremely turned out by her girlish laugh and her strong touch going over his every back muscle. He closed his eyes, surrendering himself completely to her fingers.

Suddenly, it felt as if his back was on fire. A crackling sound came from above him, and he saw blue flashed. Lucas rolled over, and saw Elle with electricity in her hands, her fingers forming a conduit for the electrical current.

"Sorry," she said with a wide smile. "Couldn't resist it."

"That hurt!" Lucas shouted.

"Oh come on, it was just a little shock. Didn't you like it?"

"It does have a strange, tickling and unbelievably... pleasant feeling afterwards," Lucas admitted, now feeling the after-effects of the shocks.

"See?" Elle grinned. "I told you so. Anyway, that was enough for one day, I've got other duties to attend to."

"What, you got other prisoners to massage?"

"Ooh, look at him! He's jealous!" she giggled as she walked out the door. "Cya tomorrow morning, Luke!" she shouted as she waved at him and closed the door.

Lucas rolled on his belly again. He laid his head on the pillow and grinned, but stopped when he wondered why she hadn't corrected him when he had called himself a prisoner.

That night, he dreamed of Elle. It was a pleasant dream. But he woke up bathing in his own sweat in the middle of the night. He was terrified by something that had happened in his dream. But by what, he couldn't remember. The only thing he could remember was a scream. One that pierced flesh and bone. He shivered, then went back to sleep soundly.

XXX___XXX___XXX

The day and weeks that followed were just as hard to Lucas as the first one had been. Every day he went to train with Kevin O'Keefe and every day he got beat up worse. But Lucas felt he was learning. His upper body strength improved, as well as his speed and mindset. And every day, Elle visited him. Their conversations grew longer, and over time, Lucas grew less and less afraid of her. He sat closer to her, and he dared looking into her eyes. But every time he saw her, his heart still skipped a beat. But it wasn't out of fear; it was something Lucas had never felt before. And every day, she shocked him. Not only with electricity, but also with her beauty and wit. And it wasn't long before Lucas admitted it: he was in love with Elle. And he felt sorry for himself. As the days passed, Lucas realised it was just one more thing he simply could never have. She would never love him back. She couldn't. First of all, he had total inexperience. He had never even kissed a girl. Second of all, he had no friends. He was a total geek for all intents and purposes. He was some kind of freak show people made fun out of. Although Lucas felt that he had changed both in attitude and physical condition, he thought he would never be a match for all the other girls Elle could pick. And no matter how good he felt alongside her, he was afraid to talk to her about it. Afraid that she would snap; afraid that she would just walk away and never return. He was afraid to act. The fear of being turned down was like a phobia hammering on his brain. The incertitude of the mutual aspect of his feelings for here was controlling his every move and word whenever she was around.  
And although the mental exercises that came along with the silat training certainly helped boost his mental image of himself, it wasn't enough to eradicate his basic character; and that was the one of a geek. 'Once a geek, always a geek'. Stagnetti had said that to him once, and those were the words that were ringing through his head every single day. Every time he felt the need to be with her. Because as everybody knows: geeks are loners, incapable of having a romantic relationship. And it was eating him up inside.

That, and he started missing his family and John. The urge he felt to see his friend was almost uncontrollable. But he was afraid to complain, he didn't want Elle to grow tired of his constant whining. But he missed his dear friend. And he wondered if he missed him as well. And when he thought about the imposter sitting in his room, playing his games, talking to his parents, talking to John,... He got mad. And it made him want to leave and just go back to who he was. But he wanted to stay here as well. He wanted to be a part of the Company. Because he knew that however slim the chance Elle and him could possibly ever be together, it would most certainly be shattered if he left this place.

Two weeks and three days after his first training with Kevin O'Keefe, something strange happened. Initially, everything seemed to be going great. Lucas had just been thrown to the ground 25 times in 2 minutes. He practised his attacking stances and moves, with O'Keefe acting as a dummy. But when the conclusive moment of the training was there, a last full-out spar between the two, something strange happened.

Lucas knew what he had to do. It was as if he had gained focus, effectively slowing time. He couldn't really slow down time of course, but he did gain a heightened sense of things. And as he saw O'Keefe's arm coming at him, he simply knew what to do. Grab, step, throw, pounce. Easy as that. And before he knew it and very well realised it, O'Keefe was lying underneath him, panting heavily.

"Get off me!" he shouted with his rude, unsympathetic voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Lucas began, but was cut off by a lone man, clapping at the scene.

"Very good, very good!" Bob Bishop shouted, emerging from the corner he had watched both of them. "Well, it seems to me like you're ready!" he told Lucas with a big smile.

"Ready?" Lucas asked.

"For your first assignment."

"But..." Lucas began, but was cut off by Kevin O'Keefe.

"Boss, if I may, I do believe..."

"Come on, Kevin," Bob interrupted, "there's no shame in admitting you lost a fair fight. No, I think Lucas is very well ready for his first assignment. His... exam, so to speak. Meet me at my office tomorrow, at 1:00 PM sharp."

And with those words, Bob Bishop left the room. Lucas looked at Kevin, who threw him a dirty look.

"One fluke and suddenly the boss starts kissing your boots," Kevin snarled at him. "Well, don't think it's going to happen. You're not ready yet, and I'm not going out there to let you watch my back! Besides, you can't even properly shift your shape yet!"

Lucas felt ashamed, but Kevin was right. It indeed had been a fluke, and he didn't even know himself how he floored his big tutor. And it was true, he couldn't achieve a perfect shape shift yet.

"Look, you're right," Lucas admitted. "I don't want this yet."

"Yeah, well, it's too late for that now. Gotta go bring you back to your cell, now. But get a shower first, you smell like an incontinent baboon on a chilli diet."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas sat in his cell, all alone. He was softly tapping his belly out of boredom and anxiety. Slowly, he drew a deep breath and sat straight on his bed. He was waiting for Elle. But she arrived much later than she usually did.

"How goes it?" she asked when she put the tray on the floor, as always. Lucas wondered why she'd never given it to him directly, but decided that was of no importance right now.

"Got my Company-exam tomorrow," he said. "And I don't think I can do it."

"Why wouldn't you?" Elle asked with a genuine look of worry on her face. "Just stick to the plan, and you'll be okay. Besides, Mr. Bishop would never let you do it if he wasn't absolutely sure you couldn't do it."

"Yeah, but what he saw today was a fluke. It was the first time I ever floored Kevin and I don't think I could ever do it again."

"What, you actually floored him?" Elle intervened. "That's pretty damn impressive, Luke."

Lucas was proud of himself, but didn't blush. He had gained control over that in the last few days.

"Seriously, I mean it," she continued, "he's known to be one of the toughest Agents we have. And the best fighter, without a shadow of a doubt. Almost no other agents would stand a chance against him."

"Yeah, but... I don't know what happened, I just kinda saw what I had to do, I knew it somehow. But if he were to come at me again, I would never be able to regain that specific pattern of thought at the right speed. And he'd kick my ass in a second, just like all those other times before."

"Oh, don't underestimate yourself," Elle reprimanded him. "You're capable of a lot more than you realise. What you have achieved in such a short period is amazing!"

"I don't think so," Lucas disagreed. "I mean, I've been here for almost three weeks now, and I am still unable to shift my shape properly. Your boss, our boss I mean, said Kevin would teach me how, but so far he has just taught me how to defend myself in hand-to-hand combat. I would've thought that to be a secondary thing, no?"

"Want to know what I think?" Elle asked, to which Lucas nodded, "I think you are already capable of shifting your shape."

"Huh?"

"Yep. Haven't you noticed? I most certainly have. You never shaved, yet your skin is still as smooth as when I first shaved you. Your hair hasn't even grown a fraction in those three weeks. You look a lot tougher than when you got here. Don't you see? You can shape yourself into the person you want to be, but your mind doesn't accept the fact you can also shift into other people. Your body knows, Lucas, but your mind doesn't let you. If you get over that barrier, you will be able to shift your shape no problem, believe me."

"Wow..." Lucas let out, wondering why those things had never occurred to him before. She was right about everything. He presumed he just hadn't noticed because of the intense training and the evenings with Elle that flew by.

"Let's give it a shot," Elle said, grabbing Lucas' hand. "Try to shift in someone. The first one that comes to your mind."

"John," was Lucas' immediate answer.

"You know him well? You know how he looks?"

"Absolutely."

"Good, concentrate on him; concentrate on his touch and his appearance. About the way he makes you feel. Concentrate..."

Lucas closed his eyes for better concentration. He thought about John. His wide chest, his broad shoulders, his tall appearance; his slick, black hair; his curved grin; his brown eyes, his slightly bent nose; his small ears. And suddenly he felt it all come over him. He felt his entire body moulding a new appearance. He got taller, wider, his face became that of his best friend's, and his natural eyesight improved.

"Whoa," Lucas said. He couldn't see anything, his improved eyesight had made the lenses unnecessary. He took them out and put them in the little pots next to his bedside.

"Why did you do that?" Elle curiously asked.

"I don't need lenses any more in this shape," Lucas explained.

"Oh yeah, right. Anyway, you see? You can shape shift, it's all just in your head!" Elle continued, switching back to the original topic.

"I guess so," Lucas said. There was no mirror so he couldn't really see the way he looked. Although he did notice he was taller and stronger than before. And when he touched his head, he felt a face that was definitely not his. Also, his hair had grown. Lucas still had a bit trouble believing it, but he actually did it. He had shifted into the appearance of his best friend. He was now an exact copy of John Mulrooney.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Dad, I don't think you should let him," Elle told her father. "Not yet at least."

"Girl, I make the decisions around here. You told me yourself, the boy can shift and maintain a perfect copy now. Plus, I saw him floor KevinO'Keefe. If that's not proof of his capability, then I don't know what is."

"But he says he doesn't know..."

"You should start listening more to what I tell you instead of letting him get inside your head. You're becoming too emotionally attached to him. I already had to fire one very capable agent who became involved with him like this; don' t make me do it again!"

"That was different! Maarten started refusing orders, you said."

"Then I suggest you do what I tell you unless you want to go the same way he went."

Elle remained silent. She was furious at her father for refusing to believe that Lucas wasn't ready yet. Not that she doubted Lucas or lacked trust in his potential, but there was a difference between 'being able to be ready' and actually 'being ready'. And she didn't want him to get hurt. After all this time they had spent together, she started to like him. He wasn't the first guy her dad had ordered her to seduce. After all, there still was Peter Petrelli she had to suck up to every day as well. But Petrelli was different; he was depressing. He wanted to get rid of his ability and live a normal life. It had taken a while, but Lucas had embraced his fate, and he reminded her a lot of herself. Cast out, almost no friends, no romantic relationships. And the faked care she had exhibited in the beginning had evolved into a genuine liking. And she was not about to see him get killed just because of her father's stubbornness.

"Fine," she said. She turned on her heels and walked out of the room.

[Author's notes: There we have it! Next chapter will be about John again, and how he starts to live under Fran the shape shifter's influence. It's gonna be a fun chapter, I hope! Though a bit dark. Maybe I'll also include the preparations for Lucas' first mission, but I don't know that yet.]


	11. Friend or Foe

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 9 – Friend or Foe

Chapter Summary: John does some very unexpected things; both good and bad. And Fran has some part to play in both.

Timeline situation: Around the beginning of 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's notes: Some rated T, possibly even M (if you're a sensitive soul) content in this chapter. If you can't handle it, bad luck for you. Just to be clear: whenever I say 'Rachel' or 'Lucas' in a scene that also actively involves John, I actually mean 'Fran'! After all, John doesn't know who they really are, so I want to emphasize it by calling her by her fake identities. I hope it's not too confusing. If it is, tell me and I'll try to do something about it. ]

XXX___XXX___XXX

John had trouble keeping his voice down as Rachel guided him to his climax. He bit his lips in a last desperate effort not to wake the entire neighbourhood. The pain along with the unbelievable joy was a weird combination. Panting heavily, Rachel rolled off of him, landing nearly next to the bed.

"Oh, man, God who art in Heaven, bless me for I have sinned," John said throughout his own heavy breathing.

"I don't think it goes quite like that," Rachel corrected him, wrapping one arm around John.

A long pause fell between the two lovers. After a couple of minutes, John hesitantly spoke up.

"So..." he began, "where does this leave us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... Are we going to see each other again or... was all of this just once only?"

"Hey, who do you take me for?" Rachel said, appearing vexed by John's question. "Do you think I'm just some kind of whore, hopping from one man to the other?"

"No, no, of course not," John quickly halted her, "I just want to say that I want more. With you. If that's okay with you, of course?"

Rachel broke the eye contact, and seemed lost in heavy thought. After about ten seconds, she answered. "Okay!"

"Yeah? So we're like... in an official relationship, yeah?"

"That's what you wanted, that's what I want."

"Awesome," John said, folding his arms behind the back of his head.

"Anyway," Rachel began, "I really should get going."

"Oh? You're not staying for the night?" John asked, very disappointed.

"Nah, I can't. I work during the night, so..."

"Erm, you're not..."

"I work as a cleaner, John!" Rachel shouted. "Jeez, are you that determined to think the worst of me?"

"No, no, of course not," John quickly said. "Just curious is all."

"Yes, well," she continued while stepping out of bed, "I guess we'll see each other tomorrow then, won't we?"

"Sure," John agreed. "Your place?"

"No, no, not my place. It's not worth visiting," Rachel quickly denied the request. "This here'll have to do."

"Oh. Okay. Maybe for the better. Don't think my parents will let me out of the house anyway tomorrow. "

"Why's that?" she asked, putting on her bra and panties.

"Got into a fight at school. Didn't tell them, but I'm sure they found out through the school principal. We were lucky to find them asleep, or we would've had to do it in the back yard. By the way, are those real?" John asked, pointing at Rachel's chest.

"Couldn't you tell?" Rachel grinned.

"I just can't fathom how someone can be quite so... perfectly and flawlessly shaped, is all..."

"What happened to this guy anyway?" Rachel continued, though she knew the answer fully well. She stepped into her tight jeans.

"He's in the hospital now. People say he's going to come after me. I don't really know what to do about it, though."

"I think you should go and see him."

"Excuse me?"

"I think you should go and see him. Extinguish that fire before you get seriously burnt. Apologise. Compromise. You know..."

"Hmm, I don't know," John contemplated. "It might just put things in motion as well."

"Please, John, do it for me, okay? I want a guy capable of putting aside foolish pride. Show me you can be that man. Now..." she finished as she was fully dressed. "I'm off. Bye, see you tomorrow! You got my number!" she added as she planted a last kiss on John's lips before stepping out the door.

John watched her through his window as she walked off in the moonlight. He sighed. Today had been like riding a rollercoaster. Some amazing, almost unbelievable things had happened to him. He had been in a fight, got ditched by his best friend, and then had sex with a beautiful stranger who suddenly agreed to be his girlfriend. Life had its up and downs, and John was experiencing quite a lot of both lately.

He kept peering out of the window until he saw about the last person he had expected to see. Walking at a steady pace was Lucas, with a large bag in his hands. "What the...?" John brought out, and sprinted downstairs after putting on some boxer shorts. He rushed out of the door, and ran through the cold night, grabbing the shoulder of Lucas to stop him from entering hid house.

"Luke, for fuck's sake, man..." John brought out. "What are you doing up this late?"

"What are you doing in the middle of the night without your trousers on?" Lucas fired back. And besides, wasn't I clear enough when I told you to leave me alone?"

"Come on," John said, "you can't be serious about that. We should talk about this; because I just don't know what I did wrong! Is it about what happened to your hand? Because if it is..."

"No, John, it's not that. You just don't... interest me any longer. I've had it with you; I've grown tired of you. I want to be alone. Spending time with you is wasting it. Clear enough? Now let go of me!" he forcefully concluded, which John did.

Lucas entered his house, leaving John behind on the sidewalk. He turned back. As he stepped inside his home, he wiped the tears out of his eyes.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Fran giggled. "What a tool," she thought. She laid herself down on the bed. She could get used to this. Spending the day as Lucas, ripping John's heart out; and spending the evenings as Rachel, mending it. But she didn't want any unnecessary attention. And if she was to be John's boyfriend, he couldn't attract too much attention either. That's why she wanted him to go and visit the hospital tomorrow; so she could put an end to John's fears of getting mugged or beaten up, or possibly even worse. Which was bound to happen.

"He's hot, though," she mumbled as she closed her eyes. "Oh yeah..."

XXX___XXX___XXX

The next day was a Saturday, which meant no school. John slipped out of his house early to avoid the wrath of his parents, and aimlessly wandered the streets. He took the subway train over to the town's centre and hung around at one of the malls.  
He called Rachel, but she said she was still sleeping. She promised to meet him later in the day and reminded John to go to the hospital. With nothing else to do, and noon quickly approaching, he headed towards the hospital where Stagnetti was being kept.

After making some inquiries, he found out which room he was being kept in; and reluctantly he made his way towards it.

Once he entered, he immediately heard the Italian's voice from behind the curtain.

"Hey, who are you? Are you new here?" he heard him ask. He was obviously talking to a nurse of some sorts.

"Yes, I am, I'm nurse Patterson; nurse Dodger has called in sick for an indefinite amount of time. She claimed one of the patients had given her a nervous breakdown. Wonder who that is..." she added. After that, the nurse stepped from behind the curtain. It was a plump lady, with long black hair and three chins. She had a friendly smile, but something about her made John dislike her. Being in Rachel's company for such a long time might have made him used to seeing perfect feminine shapes and curves. He felt sorry for the lady and the way he prejudiced her.

"Oh, are you here to see Tom, dear?" she asked John, to which he nodded.

"Who is it?" Stagnetti asked, but instead of answering, John just stepped from behind the curtain.

"Well, for fuck's sakes," Stagnetti brought out, "you're about the last person I expected in here, Mulrooney. And you're lucky I'm tied to this bed, or I would come out and shove my crutches down your throat," he spat.

"Look, man, I just wanted to say I'm sorry..."

"Oh, yes, and you'll be much more sorry after I get out of here. See that? 3 surgeries required to put my leg back together. The only reason I haven't pressed charges is because I don't want to make a case out of this. That would draw too much attention. And when I kick your ass next, it will lead a trail back to me. And the only reason my dad's men haven't killed you yet is because I won't let them. Because I want you all to myself. And you'll be sorry you ever even touched me, Mulrooney. You hear that? As soon as I'm healed, I'm coming for you! And I'm going to rip your leg off with my bare hands!"

John didn't exactly know what to say. There was obviously no reasoning with him, so he just shook his head.

"I know I overreacted and I'm sorry that I broke your knee..."

"and my nose," Stagnetti added.

"...and your nose, but I was just so mad that you were picking on Lucas again. The poor boy's done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment either."

"Oh, yeah? You actually, genuinely care about him, don't you? I know his sort, Mulrooney. He's not a real human. He's just a waste of space. Doesn't contribute nothing to society. Can't build any decent relationship of any kind. He has a destructive effect on reason and healthy brain cells. Plus, the way he looks... Jezus Christ, I find more stylish creatures in the gutter, ran over by a van. Do you think he'll be grateful to you? One day, he'll turn his back on you, and all that is left behind are memories of moments you shared that now seem utterly wasted. And now get the fuck out of here before I call my dad and change my mind about not letting him kill you. Out!" he shouted, which John quickly did.

"Boy, he's got a temper, hasn't he?" nurse Pattinson said with a friendly smile.

"You can say that again," John agreed and he quickly left the room.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Fran grinned. Oh, how she loved being a shape shifter. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror. She saw 'nurse Patterson' staring straight back at her. She walked over to the door in Stagnetti's room, and closed it. She then walked over to the bed and removed the curtains.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Stagnetti asked, "I want some privacy here, yeah?"

Without saying anything, Fran walked over to the windows and sealed the blinds.

"Hey, what--?" Stagnetti asked, but was cut off by the hand of his so-called nurse which wrapped itself around his throat. There was just enough light left in the room for Stagnetti to be able to see her face. Which was exactly what she wanted.

"You---," she slowly began, "are scum." As she began speaking, she also started shifting the shape of her face, into the most grotesque combinations she could possibly muster. "You will not touch him," she continued, her facial appearance constantly changing, using shapes and particles of deformed people, people with rare skin conditions and grotesque diseases. Tom Stagnetti's face turned red and blue, but not due to an ability of any kind. The horror could be read from his eyes and his jaw dropped. He wanted to scream, but the only sound he was able to produce was a soft hiss. Fran put even more pressure on his throat, with a surprising amount of strength for a lady her age.

"You will keep away from him, or I will hunt you down. And I will kill you. And then I will add you to my collection. Maybe even eat you. Do you understand?" she asked.

Stagnetti shook his head up and down, signalling a clear 'yes'. Of course, Fran was never going to eat or kill the guy, but the fear and intimidation were the real weapons here. And the fact her face was constantly switching between forms too terrible to imagine.

Fran released his throat, after which he gasped for air. She immediately left the room, switching her appearance into that of a random young woman. As she walked down the corridor, she heard the tearful screams from the patient's room.

"Another job well done," Fran complimented herself.

XXX___XXX___XXX

The next few weeks were quite uneventful for John. Though he was hurt by Lucas' sudden betrayal of their friendship, he found solace and comfort in the beautiful arms of Rachel every night. Their relationship grew more passionate with each passing day. John thought of the relationship as a strange one. Rachel barely ever stayed the night, and they could only meet after school. But he was happy to indulge her. And even though most of his friends turned their backs on him out of pure jealousy, he stopped caring. Rachel was the only one he needed. And in time, he started to ignore Lucas, estranged from his friends, and even quit the swimming club; because that meant he could spend more time with his beloved. Friends and family raised an eyebrow at John's strange decisions, but he felt like he didn't need to answer to them. He was of age, after all; and not even his parents could tell him what to do any longer. Because no one could come between Rachel and him. Because if that ever happened, John was unsure of what he was going to do to them.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Maarten!" a girl from the crowd at Yekaterinburg Aramil Airport yelled. Maarten looked to see who it was, and saw his little sister Natalia waving at him. He smiled brightly, and walked over to her.

"How are you?" he asked in Russian when he arrived, hugging her tightly. She was 2 years older than him, and they had always been relatively close.

"Good, now that you're back," she answered. "It's been way too dull around here. I haven't seen people produce fire with their hands since the time you left, can you imagine?"

Maarten grinned, but signalled for her to keep her voice down. "Hush, Natalia. Remember, it's a secret."

"Of course, of course. So, not that I'm complaining, but why this sudden return, little brother?" she asked, while making their way towards the exit.

"Trouble at work. Got fired."

"Ah, and still the puns, I see. You haven't changed a bit."

"No, I really am fired. Don't know of any other way to put it, honestly."

"Oh..." Natalia said. "How come?"

"Ah, that doesn't matter now," he reassured her. "I'll still bring in money. How's Andrej?" he asked, meaning her husband.

"He's been better. He's got a lot of trouble with his lungs."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yes, smoking is a bad thing. And he's been doing it way too much. Not everyone has a smoke- and fire-resistant body like you, huh?"

"No, unfortunately not."

"Anyway, I'm glad you're home. There's a lot of snow that has to be cleared in front of the house. Damn blizzards. You're lucky your flight departed when it did. Anyway, clearing snow is a piece of cake for you, no?"

"Sure," Maarten agreed. "Give me three seconds," he joked as they got in the car.

As Natalia, drove off, Maarten gazed out of the window. "It's good to be back," he whispered.

[Author's Notes: Next chapter: Lucas is tested! With some unforeseen and (hopefully) unexpected consequences. Got exams coming up though, so updates will be a little slower than normal. The reason for the recent delay is that I have to prepare these days, so.... I hope y'alll stay interested! And big thanks to Wermo, for reviewing!]


	12. Shift into Turbo

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 11 – Shift into Turbo

Chapter Summary: Lucas faces his first assignment for the Company. How will it turn out?

Timeline situation: Somewhere around 'Four Months Ago'

[Author's Notes: Sorry for the extremely long wait. Writer's block, exams, general laziness, and other projects have taken up most of my time. Anyway, enjoy this latest instalment!

Oh yes, maybe a quick trivia question? 'Which popular kids show used the same line as this chapter's title whenever something cool was about to happen?']

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Pay attention, kid," Kevin O'Keefe told Lucas when they made their way to the briefing room. "The last thing you want is to screw up because you didn't pay attention. You'll be cursing yourself for ages if that happens, believe me."

"Oh, I believe you," Lucas truthfully said. He was shaking. Mostly because of the nerves, but also because it was very cold in the building.

They arrived at a door. Kevin knocked and the door was opened for him.

"Kevin," said the man in the doorway as a manner of greeting. Kevin went inside, and Lucas followed him. "I take it you're Lucas?" the man in the doorway asked, to which Lucas gave an affirmative nod. "You're nervous," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, sir," Lucas admitted, and then looked around. There were four other people in the room, including Kevin. They all wore suits, save for Lucas. One was the man who had opened the door. He had short blond hair and looked quite young, possibly not a lot older than Lucas himself. The others resembled each other very much, and Lucas suspected they were twins. They wore the same suits, the same glasses, had the same haircut and they even had an almost identical bald patch. The only thing that weren't alike were their eyes. One had deep, dark eyes whilst the other one's were bright green.

"Brian and Jack Farrar," Kevin said, pointing to the two almost identical men, "and Graham Miller. Company Agents like me... And hopefully your colleagues soon."

"Nice to meet you," Lucas brought out with a husky voice. His throat was unbelievably dry. He coughed. All three smiled friendly at him, which put him a bit at ease.

"So," Kevin began, turning his attention to Graham, "we're here. Let's begin."

"Right," Graham said, grabbing a remote out of his pocket. The lights were switched off and a beamer projected something on the wall.

"This is your target," Graham revealed. The picture showed an old man with grey hairs and a small moustache. He wore a large, brown hat, probably to conceal his identity better. "We believe his name is Daniel Dreyfuss. He's an evolved human with the ability of small- to large-scale sedation. We suspect he's behind 6 bank robberies in Colorado. "

"Why?" Kevin asked.

"6 bank robberies in a week. Not a single shot fired. Police arrived at the scene to find all of the people there in a comatose state. Now, the authorities claimed they were all injected with some kind of drug, but toxic reports have found no traces of any kind of pollution or contaminant known to man. We've had a lot of trouble keeping this out of the press, but if we don't catch him soon, the entire nation will start looking for him. And we don't want that much attention on an evolved human, for the risk of public exposure of course."

"But he can't possibly have done all of that on his own," Kevin argued. "Even if he sedated all of those people, he can't have taken all the money by himself. Or even get to it."

"Good point," Graham admitted, skipping to the next slide. It showed a collage of 6 people. "Dreyfuss surrounds himself with top-criminals; some may have abilities on their own, we're unsure. But we do believe one of them has the ability to phase, as there were no explosives used to open the vaults. By any rate, we don't have them in the Primatech records. And the Primatech records cover over 95% of all evolved humans in the United States as you well know."

"Can't they be foreign? Primatech covers a smaller percentage of foreign evolved humans," Kevin suggested.

"We believe that's not the case. We've been able to track all of his accomplices down to being a United States citizen, if nothing else. The chance they're all evolved humans and none of them being in the Primatech records is... very small indeed."

"All right," Kevin said. "So that's our target. What's the plan? How do we bring him in? Or bring him down?"

"That won't be easy," Graham had to admit again, "because his unit works very closely together and Daniel Dreyfuss has an extensive psychological profile that elaborates specifically on his paranoia. As soon as he suspects something is out of the ordinary, he sedates everyone around him. Except for his bodyguards, of course. And that's where you come in," Graham revealed, pointing at Lucas.

"Me?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, you," Graham affirmed, skipping to the next slide. It showed one of Dreyfuss' bodyguards. "Alexander Jacobi. We have this man in custody since yesterday, right here at Primatech."

"Wait," Kevin interrupted, "couldn't you have told us that a little earlier?"

"Hey, I'm telling a story here," Graham said, acting as if he was hurt, "I gotta build up some suspense, right?"

"Yeah, whatever," Kevin rolled his eyes, "just get on with it."

"Absolutely," Graham continued. "Now, we have him in custody since yesterday thanks to the excellent work of our 2 colleagues here," he pointed at Brian and Jack. "They teleported him here, and kept him restrained."

Lucas frowned. _Teleported_? Graham saw the confusion in his eyes.

"Brian and Jack can teleport anyone and everything to somewhere else. But the thing is: they can't teleport themselves, that's why they need to be together if they want to teleport as well."

"Oh, I see," Lucas mumbled. This was becoming increasingly weird to him. In the last couple of minutes he had heard about people who could sedate others by sheer force of will, walk through solid matter and teleport other people. His own shape shifting seemed a bit... weak compared to those other powers. "But what can I possibly do against them?" he hesitantly asked with a faint voice.

"More than you imagine, I bet, judging from the look on your eyes," Graham smiled. "A shape shifter has no offensive power, yet he can manipulate people. You are going to shift into him," he said, pointing at the screen, "and then you will join Daniel Dreyfuss' crew, like nothing has happened."

"Excuse me?" Kevin intervened, "are you out of your goddamn minds?"

"You will feed intelligence to us. The most important thing is that you make sure he suspects you of nothing. And the second most important thing is that we need a location."

"Location?" Lucas asked. "What do you mean?"

"We need to know where Dreyfuss is beforehand. Because only with excellent preparation can we take him down. We will need a sniper rifle to take him out; long-range is the only way we're gonna get him. And then, we'll need other agents to take down his bodyguards."

"Except for me, then," Lucas suggested.

"That goes without saying. Kevin and the Farrars will be there, as well as 2 other pairs. So you will only have to fly solo for a limited amount of time."

"Who's going to snipe him?" Kevin asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It made Lucas shiver.

"That'll be me," Graham declared. "Best shot in the Company, you know."

"Hmm," Kevin agreed, "makes sense. With your ability and all."

"What's your ability?" Lucas asked, intrigued.

"Flawless success is what I call it," Graham grinned. "Everything I do just... works out. Quite useful, let me tell you."

"I can imagine," Lucas answered, hoping ability included plans he made.

"So you most certainly won't have to worry about the sniper shot missing its target," Graham reassured him with a wink of his eye. "So, Kevin, what do you think?" he asked the big man about his plan.

"I think it's a solid plan," Kevin admitted.

"Well, I'll be damned," Graham grinned, "Kevin O'Keefe actually approves with one of my plans. Heard that, boys? Oh, I'm going to get the tape of this recording session and show it to everyone here at Primatech. They won't believe what they're seeing."

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up," Kevin shot back. "There are still quite a few holes in it. First of all, what if the bodyguard you captured turns out to be the phaser? What if Lucas is forced to exhibit this ability before he's able to give us Dreyfuss' location?"

"We know for a fact that this person has no abilities," Graham answered. "Certainly not any ability that we're familiar with, including phasing."

"How do you know?" Lucas asked, his interest piqued.

"Certain genetic structures match with persons that share the same ability," Graham explained. "It's how we're able to determine what ability a person possesses without him exhibiting it; or even knowing about its existence. Alexander shows no signs of any ability whatsoever."

"And my tests produced shape shifting?" Lucas inquired.

"To be perfectly honest, you've never been tested," Kevin intervened. "Because you exhibited clear signs of shape shifting, and were selected for Company training. We never really thought it was... necessary."

"Oh..." Lucas brought out.

"Second of all," Kevin continued, focusing his attention back on Graham, irritated they weren't focusing on the task at hand, "won't Dreyfuss and his crew notice he has gone missing?"

"Not necessarily," Graham disagreed, "they've been given a short holiday; possibly mental and physical recuperation for their next big haul. Which is part of the reason why we need Lucas out in the field now, rather than tomorrow. To avoid suspicion, and all. This is our deadline so to speak."

"How do you know all this?" Kevin asked.

"Through a series of well-determined yes or no questions asked to mister Jacobi here, and the assistance of Agent Locke, our infallible lie-detector. He just had to answer either of the two... and we knew straight away what the situation was."

"I see; standard procedure, then," Kevin said, nodding his head. "Next question: how does Lucas know how to act in front of the others? In fact, do we even know their names?"

"We have profiles on each and every crew member, which Lucas will have to study before going into the field. We're not entirely sure of their names, but my guess is that he can derive them from normal conversation between the others, no?"

"_Thought I was through studying for a while..."_ Lucas thought. He was extremely nervous.

"I guess that'll have to do, then. Though I don't approve of you throwing him before the lions like this."

"It'll be okay. If everybody sticks to the plan and Lucas plays his role as he is supposed to, nothing can go wrong. Anyway, if you will please follow me..."

Graham made his way out of the room, and Kevin gestured to Lucas he had to follow him. Lucas did so, and, followed by Kevin, was led into the room next door. In the corner was a man, bound to a chair. Lucas recognised him from the photographs, and knew this was Dreyfuss' captured accomplice... only a little beaten up. He had a huge black eye and a torn lip.

"He's all yours," Graham told Lucas, pointing at the man. Though no official order was given, Lucas knew what was expected of him. He had now pulled off a couple of perfect shape changes, so he was confident he could do it again. Focusing on what Elle had taught him, he approached the man. The accomplice was asleep, or knocked unconscious, so he didn't notice Lucas. He touched the criminal's left under arm, and closed his eyes, focusing on his touch. He had the image of the man right in front of him, and Lucas started to change his shape.

Within ten seconds, he had changed his appearance totally. From Lucas Terry to Alexander Jacobi.

"That's odd..." Graham remarked, looking at Lucas.

"What is it? Something wrong?" Lucas asked, his heart skipping a beat. He was afraid he had screwed up the shifting.

"No, not at all," Graham reassured Lucas. "In fact, it's wonderful. See that, Kevin? He doesn't have the bruises..."

"I see," Kevin gazed at Lucas. "Remarkable. Normally, when a shape shifter assumes the shape of a bruised person, the bruises appear on that person as well. But in your case, they haven't. Which can mean two things: either you haven't fully perfected your shape shifting yet, or either you are so talented you can already change random skin tones at will."

"I do hope it's the latter," Lucas said out loud, though he quickly regretted it.

"Don't we all," Graham smiled. "Anyway, Lucas, these are the psychological and social profiles our experts have made on the other gang members," he continued, reaching in a briefcase and handing over a pile of papers in brown files. "It is essential that you study these well and act accordingly to what they say. You need as less attention from the others as possible, you understand? You don't want to raise suspicion by giving the wrong names to the wrong people or something stupid like that. There's not a lot of room for error. Best not to talk to anyone with their name until you've heard someone say them."

"Where do I begin?" Lucas asked.

"In Colorado, obviously. We'll drop you off there. Unfortunately, we can't give you a wire; the risk of detection is simply too great. A tracker we can provide, though, in your cellphone. You will have to find a way to contact us once you know when and where Dreyfuss and his clan have another robbery or crime of any type planned."

"Can't I just give you the location of his hide-out?" Lucas hopefully suggested.

"No, too risky," Graham denied, "we need him out in the open. In close quarters he can easily and quickly sedate us, which obviously leaves us vulnerable. And with vulnerable I mean 'helpless'," he added with a faint smile.

"I see..."

"Kevin will escort you to the drop-off point; you will be given Alexander's clothes, wallet and cellular phone. You can use the latter to contact your crew members."

"Do they include names?" Lucas suggested.

"Codenames, yes. Once you've contacted them, find them. Once you know more about their plans, let us know as soon as possible. We will begin preparations immediately, and if all goes well and according to plan, we'll have ourselves a nasty group of criminals."

Lucas nodded, and Kevin took him by the shoulder. "It's time, kid," he said. "And I hope you're ready for this..."

XXX___XXX___XXX

The flight to Colorado went smoothly and quickly. Lucas was transported in a helicopter, and dropped off on a private, Primatech-owned patch of land in Colorado Springs. He tried to study the psychological profiles of the team members, but he was a bit too excited and nervous, as he had never flown in a helicopter before. Still, however anxious and unprepared he felt, he also had a sense of duty for the first time in his life. He could not fail; not for himself, not for his parents, not for John,... and not for Elle. The longing to be with her permanently, as a colleague and hopefully something more eventually, was so immense that his determination rose to unknown heights. And it was the only thing that kept him from just running off entirely.

Once he was dropped off, he went through the plan once more with Kevin. He reassured him they would never be far away, but also not too close. Lucas realised he was mostly on his own. But he knew what he had to do.  
He got the cell phone out, and dialled the number next to 'Crashdown'. He had never liked calling other people, not even John. It was personally impersonal; Lucas found difficulties projecting his emotions through a phone... Even in face-to-face conversations he didn't open up to anyone easily. But once again, he now had a goal, and that certainly helped him to overcome his doubts.

As the phone softly beeped, Lucas licked his lips. He was afraid his voice would sound wrong and that they'd be onto him right away. But he had been maintaining this shape for almost a day now; he'd be surprised if it went wrong now...

"Yo, Alex, what's up?" the voice from the other end of the line said.

"Hey," Lucas greeted, hoping his voice was in the right tone. He had been exercising his manner of speech as well to match that if Alex's, as well as talk with an American accent. Lucas had the accent of a Scotsman, as his father was originally from Scotland and his mother from Manchester, where they lived. It was basically just acting. With a lot on the line. And he thought he was doing quite well. "We meetin' tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, that's what we agreed, no?" Crashdown said.

"Yeah, see, I've got a problem."

"You won't be able to make it? Boss gon' be furious at you, man, better watch out."

"No, no, I should be able to make it, I just forgot the exact address. I wrote it down, but..."

"Oh, Jeez, you owe me for this, man," Crashdown crossly responded. "5th street, Tabernash; number 2. 10AM tomorrow. Don't be late, Alex, or you'll be sorry."

"Much obliged," Lucas answered, after which Crashdown hung up the phone. He checked the map of Colorado. Tabernash wasn't so far away, nothing he couldn't make by train. Primatech had provided him with a credit card for expenses, and keeping track of him. With wobbly knees, he walked to the nearest train station.

XXX___XXX___XXX

At exactly 10 AM, Lucas arrived at the supposed hideout. He knocked on the door and was let in by a small man in rags. Lucas recognised him from the dossiers and knew he was at the right address. For some reason, that didn't entirely put him at ease.

"Alex," he greeted him with a nod. "Right on time. Others are here already. Boss is curious about your plan. You should go and talk to him right away."

Lucas' heart skipped a beat. "Plan?"

"Yeah, plan," the man confirmed. "You said you had a plan a couple of days ago that would make us rich beyond our wildest imaginations. Remember?"

"Erm, yeah, well, it's just that... It's not really that good. Forget I ever said anything," Lucas stuttered. His hands were shaking a little bit. He had not anticipated this and was looking for a way out.

"What's the matter, man, you look nervous."

"Do I?" Lucas asked, "I just don't feel that well."

"Well, then I guess you should have a lie down, no? Gotta go and see the boss first, though, he's been asking after you last time I saw him."

"Oh. Okay, sure. Where is he?"

"Last room on the right."

"Great, thanks. See you."

"Come on in," a gruff voice shouted as Lucas knocked on the door. Hesitantly, he opened it. Lucas immediately recognised the man from the photographs Graham had shown him. He was standing in front of Daniel Dreyfuss. He looked harmless, but Lucas was well aware of the things this man could do. And it didn't put him at ease. Not at all...

"Hi, boss," Lucas stammered.

"I trust you have your plan ready?"

"Oh, erm..." Lucas' palms were sweaty and he rubbed them against his trousers. "Actually, I reconsidered. It's not really executable."

"Is that so?" Dreyfuss replied, pursing his lips. "You do realise the prospect of your plan has impeded our progress these last few days? Nobody made an effort to be productive, because of you. And I hope you realise that the two of us are going to have a problem."

Lucas almost got nauseous with anxiety. "I er...," he began, but was cut off by Dreyfuss.

"Luckily for you, your past actions speak for themselves and I cannot simply throw away a productive member of our team. And you're also lucky I always have a backup plan in my sleeve. One for a rainy day, if you know what I mean."

"I do, boss," Lucas nodded enthusiastically, relieved by Dreyfuss' apparent forgiveness.

"Tell the others to come in. So we can get started."

"Sure thing," he said and he hurried himself out of the room. Lucas remembered he had 5 others to find, and he vaguely recalled their details from the Primatech files. Their faces were easily remembered, but their names were something else. He walked around the hideout, it consisted of only four rooms in total: Dreyfuss' office, a small kitchen, a large living and sleeping area and a bathroom. Lucas was relieved they were all sitting in the living area. Three of them were reading a book, one of them was playing on a PSP handheld console and one, much to Lucas' disgust, was polishing his gun. They looked up at him as soon as he entered the room. It made him feel uneasy, but he just did what he had to do.

"Boss wants to see us. Now," he added, gesturing his thumb towards Dreyfuss' office door.

All of them sighed and got up. But then something happened Lucas never saw coming.

The last accomplice in the room took Lucas' hands. Startled, Lucas jumped up and drew his hands back, clenching his fists and instinctively readying a combat stance, like Kevin had taught him. The other guy seemed surprised by Lucas' sudden reaction.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Lucas returned, fearing his cover was compromised.

"Why are you being so hostile, honey? I just wanted some moments alone with you, even if it's just a few seconds."

"_Honey?"_ Lucas thought. His brain was almost overheating with activity. Lucas quickly figured out this guy and Alexander Jacobi must've been involved in a romantic relationship. A gay romantic relationship. Not that Lucas had any problems with that, it was just unexpected. And he'd have to play along. As much as he hated it...

"I'm... sorry," Lucas answered, relaxing a bit. "I'm just a bit on edge, that's all. Meeting with the boss does that to you, ironically."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Alexander's love interest grinned. "But don't worry. All this will be over soon."

The guy moved his head closer and planted a quick kiss on the right corner of Lucas' mouth. He clenched his teeth, barely resisting the urge to head butt the guy. His instincts weren't doing him any favours.

"Hey, Ruben, Alex, you coming?" a voice from Dreyfuss' office shouted.

"Sure thing," Ruben yelled back. Lucas remembered what Kevin and Graham had said to him. _"Only use their name when they've been revealed to you by others."_ That was about the only thing about the plan that was working out for Lucas at the moment.

Ruben and Lucas made their way back to Dreyfuss' office instantly. The other four were already standing in front of their boss' desk.

"Finally," Dreyfuss said, displeased with the hold-up. "As you all know, we've been doing quite well for ourselves lately. We did some successful bank robberies and the police barely knows who and especially _what_ Crashdown and I are," he continued, pointing towards the tallest guy among them. Lucas immediately remembered he had talked to him on the phone earlier. And he realised Crashdown was the rumoured phaser. Even though his agnostic attitude still made it hard for him to believe it.  
"Tomorrow will be the biggest day yet," Dreyfuss promised the group, "as we will reel in our biggest haul to date. We're not going to rob a bank this time. We're going to rob a casino. Not like in Ocean's Eleven or anything, we're going to walk in, people are going to drop down to the floor, Crashdown opens the vault and we'll be off with the dollars. Big dollars, people, I can promise you that. So much dollars we won't be able to carry them."

"Which casino?" a guy whose name Lucas didn't know yet.

"Well, Liron, would you be happy if I told you it was the Crazy Horse casino?"

"Hell yeah," Liron answered.

"Biggest damn Indian casino in a 3-state radius," Liron's neighbour added to the conversation.

"Correct, Gilad," Dreyfuss answered. "Once we do this, all we need is a plane ticket, a new pass port and we can start to live the life of kings. Disappear forever. No more work for the rest of our lives. How does that sound?"

"Not bad at all," Ruben answered.

"Indeed," Dreyfuss smiled. "Liron, you get the blueprints and schematics. I want this to be a job done quickly and flawlessly. In theory, it shouldn't be much harder than any other job we've done before. But still, we'll need to be well-prepared."

"I agree," Crashdown nodded.

"Soon as we have the plans, we'll finalize our schedule, but we're definitely going to depart tomorrow 0700 hours. Get ready, men," Dreyfuss said, concluding the meeting.

Lucas was sweating intensely. And the fact he noticed it only made him more nervous. But while caught in this vicious circle, he realised that this was exactly what the Company needed of him. Information. Whereabouts. Plans. Lucas had it all, now he just needed a way of bringing it to his... employers, or whatever 'the Company' was to him. He shrugged internally. Right now, he didn't really care. All that mattered was this little bit of precious info and getting it to them. But for that, he needed to find a bit of solitude. And he knew he couldn't find that inside. So, with what little courage he had left, he stepped towards Dreyfuss, initiating conversation.

"Erm, boss...?" he hesitantly asked. "Do you mind if I step outside for a couple of minutes? Some fresh air. I'm not feeling too well."

"Hmm," Dreyfuss pursed his lips, contemplating on the man he thought to be Alexander Jacobi's request. "You've had plenty of time leading up to this gathering, Alex. Besides, I don't like people running off the day before a mission. Even a mission on such short notice."

"Oh, come on, boss," a voice from behind Lucas' back said. "Please, I can go with him." Lucas turned around to see who it was, and much to his disgust and displeasure, he saw Ruben enthusiastically hopping up and down. "Let me go with him, so we can have some time for the two of us. It'll do both of us good. So we can start tomorrow with a clear head."

Dreyfuss sighed. "Well, it's not really my policy, but... Okay then. For once. Don't be gone for too long, though, all right?"

"Yeah, sure," Ruben answered, looking very excited. "We'll be back in a bit," he said, grabbing Lucas by the shoulder and pulling him towards the door.

Once they were outside, Lucas was still wondering how it was possible his luck fluctuated all the time. Being bullied, discovering he's an evolved human, being kidnapped, meeting Elle, having his ass kicked, successfully train, being assigned an impossible mission, being on the verge of resolving it successfully,... And now, it was all taken away again by one guy who couldn't mind his own damn business. Lucas realised he'd need to get away from him, at least for a minute or two. And as soon as they were outside, he started looking for a temporary escape route. But Ruben kept dragging him by the arm, firmly holding on to him. At this point, he couldn't really do anything without making it look suspicious. So he just hung on. He was grateful for one thing though, and that was Ruben keeping his mouth shut.  
But that soon changed. The duo arrived at a small park. Ruben suddenly stopped, and turned towards Lucas, believing the man before him was in fact his boyfriend.  
"You know, Alex," he began, "I was wondering if... I could ask you something?"

"Eh," Lucas brought out, desperately hoping he would not stumble over his own words, "sure, go ahead, I mean, why not, huh?"

Ruben grinned, "You don't have to be shy like that. But..." he continued, moving his face closer to Lucas, "you love me no? I think we should get married."

"Married?" Lucas shouted, realising too late he should have kept his voice down.

"What, you don't want to?" Ruben asked, looking seriously disappointed.

"Yeah, it's just that, erm... Well, I don't know. I, erm... I have to take a piss, actually," he eventually said, hoping for a quick way out of this extremely unpleasant situation.

Ruben sighed. "Fine. Well, there's a lot of trees here. Take your pick."

"I will," Lucas agreed and hurried himself into the park. He kept going until he was certain he was out of Ruben's hearing range and couldn't be seen. He took out his cell phone and dialled Graham's number. Anxiously, he awaited a response.

"Lucas?" Graham's voice on the other end of the line asked. "You got something for us?"

"Aye," Lucas affirmed, "I know where they're gonna be tomorrow. Well, _we_ actually."

"That's great! Tell me, son."

"Dreyfuss plans to rob the Crazy horse casino here in Colorado. Plan is basically to walk straight through the entrance, and do their... thing. Or whatever it is, they do. We're departing at 0700 hours, so you should be able to estimate when we arrive."

"That early? I'm imagining it's still closed by the time you arrive, no?"

"Yeah, I know," Lucas agreed, but with that guy who can apparently move through solid matter, they should be able to break in no problem."

"You know who the phaser is? I should bring him down as well, if at all possible. If I can shoot him at an unexpected moment, my bullet will surely kill him."

"Yeah, it's Crashdown. Tallest guy in the group, and the only one with black hair. Can't miss him."

"Indeed, I cannot. Got anything else for us, Lucas?" Graham asked.

"Erm, no that's about it really."

"Okay, it's not much, but it should suffice. You've done a great job, Lucas. Just keep acting normal and tomorrow by noon, this should all be over."

"Can't wait," Lucas dryly remarked.

"I can imagine. See ya, son," Graham concluded, and Lucas hung up the phone. He put it back in his pocket after deleting the phone's history and made his way back to Ruben.

"Finally," Ruben exclaimed when Lucas reappeared. "That was one big piss you took there!"

"Indeed," Lucas said. "I think we should go back now."

Ruben sighed. "It's obvious you don't want to talk about... _us_."

"Look, man," Lucas said, trying to avoid getting caught in an argument, "we'll talk about it tomorrow. Don't you worry. After all, you're... the love of my life..." Lucas concluded, not believing he actually said that.

Ruben nearly blushed. "That's sweet of you to say. Come on, let's go back."

XXX___XXX___XXX

The following morning, the gang suited up and got ready to leave. As they got in the van, Lucas had trouble thinking straight. His heart was pounding insanely hard. After a few remarks from Ruben, who asked if he was okay, Lucas managed to calm down, realising that could only work in his favour. Last night they had been going over the plans. It all seemed very simple the way Dreyfuss had put it. _Get in there, I sedate the lot of them, Crashdown opens the vault, we take the cash and go_, was basically what he had said. Lucas concluded it were their abilities that made them so confident of their success. Overconfident in this case. Lucas had trouble looking at Dreyfuss. He found it hard to imagine the guy would be dead in a couple of hours. Same went for Crashdown. All things considered, Crashdown didn't appear that much of a criminal to Lucas. He was in fact quite a nice guy. Last night he discovered that his real name was Benjamin Sommerfeld. He had revealed people called him Crashdown because he survived an airplane crash thanks to his manifestation. After the crash, he woke up. A bar had pierced his chest, and the plane was reduced to scrap, but instead of being impaled and scratched he could just get up, and walk straight out. Lucas looked at the guy, wondering why he had decided to share that with him on that specific moment. Lucas thought it was strange he had never told the real Alexander Jacobi, but figured it was just something he liked to tell other people. Like an old man who recounts his old war-stories time and time again. It was not uncommon. Lucas himself liked to talk about his greatest Halo-kills time and time again. Or about beating Ninja Gaiden 2 on the hardest difficulty. Or completing Oblivion without stopping. Lucas felt a sudden urge to grasp something that gave him the feel of a gaming controller. It had been a long time since he last played. He was kind of fearing he had lost a bit of his edge but internally promised he would make up for the lost time.  
Not knowing what else to do, Lucas started staring out the window. There wasn't much to look at, just roadside houses, small parks, industry, highway,... After about an hour on driving, none of the team members speaking much, Dreyfuss made a gesture towards Gilad, who pulled the car over. Lucas looked around, to see why he had stopped. He saw nothing that caught his eye, and he was pretty sure it was impossible to miss a place like the Crazy Horse casino.

"Why are we stopping?" Lucas asked Ruben.

"Don't know," he replied.

"Everybody out guys," Dreyfuss ordered, and everybody complied immediately. They got out of the car, and they just stood there for a second. They moved towards Dreyfuss, apparently waiting for him to say something. Instead, he just nodded. Lucas wondered what he meant by that. He soon found out.  
Both Gilad and Liron took him by the arm, soon followed by a grip so tight and so strong Lucas could never hope to escape. He tried to remember Kevin's silat teachings, but he was so overcome by fear and surprise he couldn't resist.

Dreyfuss lighted up a cigarette. "You know," he said, grinning while blowing out the smoke, "you must be one of the worst Company agents I have ever seen."

"Wha-?" Lucas brought out, but was cut off by a fierce blow to the stomach from Ruben.

"We were onto you after your first phone call with Crashdown here," Dreyfuss revealed. "But we decided we wanted to be 100 percent certain. So I asked you about a plan. You claimed you had forgotten a plan Alex never even had the intention of creating. And please... Ruben? Gay? Come on, we're all Jews for heaven's sake! But it was amusing nonetheless."

The remaining gang members laughed loudly. Lucas cursed himself. He had been stupid. Very stupid. And it had cost him. Dearly.

"But," Dreyfuss continued, "I must say it was a fresh approach of the Company. What are you? Illusionist? Shape shifter? Definitely the first one with your kind of ability they sent after us." He slowly approached Lucas. "Now..., go to sleep little Company man. Go to sleep and tell your bosses I'm still out here. And let them know I'll be coming to get my man back." Dreyfuss was so close Lucas could fell the breath of the old man on his forehead.

"Fuck off, you bloody arsehole," he said, letting go of everything. He let go of the American accent, as well as the shape. Within mere seconds, he had reverted back to his original self, except for his eyes. He held on to the eyes. His own eyes needed glasses or lenses after all... "The Company's gonna get you."

"Oh, is that so, boy?" Dreyfuss grinned at the sight of the teenage agent. "Where? At the Crazy Horse Casino? Doesn't even exist, kiddo."

The gang members laughed. Lucas cursed himself even harder this time.

"I'm afraid your little plan hasn't worked out exactly as foreseen. Graham must be _so_ disappointed," he added with a smile.

"Stick a flagpole up yer arse, ye bloody sodomite!" Lucas shouted.

Dreyfuss immediately slapped Lucas. "That's quite enough!" the gang leader shouted back. "Enough talking... It's time for you to go to sleep. Don't forget to carry over my message..."

And before Lucas could say anything, Dreyfuss started to whistle softly. Lucas noticed how his eyelids became heavy. Dark waves of sleep fell over him like a soft blanket. All became black before him.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Over here!" a Company agent shouted, standing over Lucas' unconscious body. Others quickly ran towards them. Graham and Kevin arrived swiftly as well.

"Wake him up," Graham ordered Kevin. The big man crouched and took Lucas' face, softly but rapidly hitting him across the cheeks.

"Come on, wake up, man," he whispered. And slowly but surely, Lucas came to.

"Wh-..." he brought out, but was cut off by Graham.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Don't... know," Lucas replied, his cheeks burning with shame.

"You don't know," Graham concluded, biting his lips and rubbing his own cheeks. "Great. Great. Fucking great! Wonderful!" It was obvious he was furious. Lucas was a bit scared of him. He had always been so gentle before. Seeing this rage seemed so... out of place.

"What did they tell you before they left you here?" Kevin asked, releasing Lucas and standing back up.

"That they had been onto me from the beginning, and... well, he gave me a message for you, Graham."

"A message? For me? I'm honoured," Graham sarcastically rebutted. "Speak then, boy."

"He said he's coming for his man. Alexander, I presume he means. Apparently, he wants him back."

"That was to be expected," Kevin mumbled.

"Expected? Graham shouted. "Expected? I expected this mission to succeed. I expected to shoot down this son of a bitch, along with a very dangerous phaser. Do you realise how big a screw-up this is, Kevin?"

"I do."

"No, I don't think so. This is all going to fall on my head, you know. I'll be the one eating Bob Bishop's shit for the rest of my life while trying to undo my mistakes by kissing his golden ass. Fuck!" he exclaimed.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now..." Kevin sighed.

"Oh, I think you're badly mistaken there, my friend," Graham replied. "You two," he yelled, gesturing towards two other Company agents, "take him and bring him back to Primatech HQ."

The two men in suits picked up Lucas, who was still a bit dazed by Dreyfuss' sedation and put him into the nearest car.

"What? What are you going to do to him?" Kevin asked.

"I'm going to put him back where he came from," Graham replied while walking back to the car he shared with Kevin. "And I'm not talking about his home."

Kevin wisely held his tongue, remembering all too well what had happened to Maarten not so long ago. The big man took a deep breath, and opened the door of the car. And as he started the engine, he wondered whose fault all of this really was.

[Author's Notes: Next chapter: The seeds of Lucas' future are sown, as he meets an old friend, new friends and something in between.]


	13. Seeds of the Future

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 12 – Seeds of the future

Chapter Summary: Lucas faces the consequences of failure, meets new people and an old acquaintance.

Timeline situation: Somewhere around 'Four Months Ago'

XXX___XXX___XXX

"You know, kid," Kevin started as he looked at Lucas, who sat quietly in the corner of his cell, "I don't really blame you. You were thrown before the wolves when you weren't ready yet and now you're paying the price. Unfortunately, I can't do anything for you. The last agent who went against Bob's orders is lucky to still be alive..."

Kevin paused and took a deep breath, barely able to look at Lucas. The English teen just sat there in the corner, staring at the floor. The corners of his eyes glittered, his lips wobbled and the painful expression on his face made Kevin question himself and his motives. Which was something he hated.

"I'm truly sorry, Lucas, because you showed promise. With more training, more experience and a little bit of luck I'm sure you could've pulled this off, but..."

"What's going to happen to me?" Lucas suddenly asked with a shaky voice. He slowly looked up at his former mentor.

"I don't know," Kevin truthfully told him. "But truth be told, I'd be amazed if they just let you go. I'm... sorry, kid. Really."

"Yeah..." Lucas replied. "So am I."

"Maybe... Maybe we'll work something out. But for what it's worth, the Company doesn't normally execute its prisoners, so erm..." Kevin mumbled, not knowing for sure why exactly he had said that and how that would make Lucas feel better. And with a big sigh, he stepped out of the boy's cell, locking the door behind him.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"You can't do this!" Elle screamed at her father, her cheeks red with fury and indignation. "He does not deserve all of this!"

"Keep your voice down, girl," Bob reprimanded his daughter. "And don't tell me what I can or cannot do. Last time I checked I was still the one handing out the orders here!"

"She's got a point, though," Graham, who was standing in the corner of Bob's office with his back against the wall, interrupted the two of them. "Execution's not the solution. We didn't even do that to Sylar, Monroe or any of the other criminals."

"Monroe cannot be killed and Sylar was needed for study," Bob argued. "Besides, what do you care? You should be the one pulling the trigger! You were _this _close to finally capturing Daniel Dreyfuss and he screwed up months of surveillance work, not to mention Dreyfuss got away and is probably robbing and killing at this moment!"

"He's an incompetent little fucker, sure. But that doesn't mean we should kill him for it."

"Don't call him that," Elle angrily said.

"Why not?" Graham argued. "It's what he is."

"He was thrown into the field way too soon. He's a shape shifter, not you, Graham, everything's easy for you!"

"Quiet, both of you!" Bob shouted. "If we don't execute him, we'll have to keep him here. We can't let him go back to his parents. Either one of those solutions calls for more trouble than the boy's worth."

"How about we let the Haïtan wipe his memory?" Elle suggested. "Inject him with the isotope, keep track of him. But I beg you, father, do not kill him!"

"The Haïtan would have to wipe weeks of memories. Such a gap cannot logically be explained or made to look credible without injuring him," Graham countered. "Which is something I'm most certainly in favour of."

"But there is still the matter of Fran," Bob said. "She's still at his home, pretending to be him and looking like the old him. If we bring him back now, he'll not only have a huge gap in his memory along with severe trauma to the head, but also a haircut, perfect eyes and a well-manifested ability. It's risky no matter how you look at it. I still think it's best to get rid of him once and for all."

"No, please, just... keep him here! Or let me talk to him, maybe I can convince him to shift back into his old self," Elle desperately suggested.

"That would most certainly help," Graham agreed.

"Fine," Bob answered, giving his permission. "Talk to him. If he agrees with the plan and does as you ask, we bring him back to the UK. If not... well, we'll see about that when the time comes."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Elle knocked on Lucas' cell door. It wasn't a manner of asking for permission to come in, but a simple way of alerting Lucas of her presence here. She waited a split-second before opening the door. The odd feeling in her belly was that of guilt. Something she had never really experienced before. At all, in fact. Her father had trained her to be ruthless and merciless. Trained her to obey commands and do as told. And she knew that, in the end, she would always remain loyal to her father and the Company, no matter how much she disliked him and some of his decisions. Even if it meant hurting this... boy. A boy she has come to appreciate in another way than all the flirtatious romances she has had with other prisoners. Petrelli and Monroe, in the cells next door, were a fun distraction in their own manner, but they didn't mean nearly as much to her as Lucas. She wouldn't hesitate a picosecond to shoot Peter or Adam in the back of the head if ordered. Lucas, though,... She knew she would have doubts. Second thoughts. And that's what made her realize he meant something to her. Was it pity? Admiration? Appreciation? ...Love? She didn't dare to think so.

She opened the door, and her mood sunk even lower when she saw Lucas sitting in the corner of his cell. She could tell he had been crying. His eyes were red and swollen, his lips were wobbling and his cheeks showed dirty stripes of wiped tears. His short hair was as messy as its length allowed it to be. When she entered, he looked up. She had entered his cell a lot in recent weeks, and almost every time she had done so, he had looked at her with a bright, cute, shy smile. Not now however. His face remained void of any emotion. It was strange for Elle to see.  
"We need to talk, Luke," Elle began. Lucas didn't reply, nor did he show any intention to. So Elle continued talking. "You, erm... You might not fully realize it, but your future is being discussed, and... well, we think we may have found a solution."

Lucas continued to stare at the ground, saying nothing. Elle had to scrape all her courage together to start talking again. And it was weird to her. She felt out of character. She was used to being the cold, heartless bitch. She wondered if that was a good sign or not. That she still had some empathy left. But it didn't matter now. She had to convince Lucas to cooperate with them. Or he could face the consequences.

"Since you came here, you have undergone a major makeover, and... well, the change is so significant that we can't let you return in your current state."

It was then that Lucas interrupted her for the first time. His voice sounded broken and husky. "I just want to go home," he said. He didn't look at her.

"I understand, and I'm not saying it's impossible, Lucas. Not at all. We just need you to do something. You have to change back. Into how you looked like before you came here. You know... Long hair, flawed eyesight, stubbly beard,..."

"Then what happens? You just let me go? Like that? Send me home with knowledge of your existence, names and all that? Come on, I've played way too many games to buy any of that..." Lucas argued. He looked up at her for the first time. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You're right," Elle admitted, "we can't let you go just like that. But you don't have to worry about that. We will make you forget. You will just wake up, your parents and John will be beside your bed, happy to see you. Everything will be like it used to be. It will be like all of this never happened." Elle paused, awaiting his reaction.

"Like it never happened?" Lucas asked. Elle nodded, hoping that would appeal to him.

"What do you say?" she asked.

"I don't want that," Lucas answered.

"What!?" Elle shouted. "Luke, why not? They're going to kill you if you don't agree with this plan, don't you understand?" she desperately explained.

"I don't really care, Elle. Because I don't want to forget all of this. And do you know why? Because you are in it."

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"I love you, Elle," Lucas revealed to her for the first time, "I really do! I have never experienced love this way, and I most certainly have never opened up to any other woman as I have with you. Every shitty thing I witnessed and experienced here was worth it, Elle. And I don't want you taken away from me. I know we can never be together, but..."

"Luke," she interrupted, "please, don't. Don't do this for me."

"Why? Because the feeling's not mutual? I don't even care about that, Elle. What I feel is real. As real as an emotion can be. I want to hold this feeling forever. As I said, we can never be together, so all I have got of you are memories. And I don't want those taken away from me."

"Don't be a fool..." Elle said softly, then raising her voice again. "You won't have those memories if you're dead anyway!"

"True. But then I wouldn't have missed out, now would I?"

"Jeez, Lucas, this isn't some videogame where you can just load your most recent savefile and try again, this is your life we're talking about! I had to barter with my father for yours to be spared. Take this opportunity! Go back to Manchester, live the life you used to live!"

"I don't want to live that life any more. I'm a different person now. I have grown, matured, and it's all thanks to what you and Kevin taught me. I don't want to be that loser any longer. I have learned how to stand up for myself, to stand up for what I believe in and how to love and cherish. There's more to life than what I've made of it so far. And I don't want to miss out on anything. I'd rather die."

Elle sighed. She had trouble containing herself. She was both angered and saddened by his reaction. "Very well," Elle sighed, "if that's your decision, then I will inform Mr. Bishop."

Quickly, she made her way out of the cell. And she almost burst into tears as the lock fell into place. However, she held her own and remembered she still had to check up on Peter and give him the Haitian pills.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"And…?" Bob asked as Elle returned into his office. She didn't respond with words, she merely nodded her head sideways.

"Stubborn little son of a bitch," Graham mumbled. "I should've known."

"Well, that settles it then, doesn't it?" Bob said.

"Please, dad, do you really have to kill him?" Elle asked, in a last desperate attempt to convince him. But to no avail.

"Look," Bob crossly answered, "we went over this already. He decided not to cooperate, so we'll act accordingly. Is that clear?"

"I… Yes, daddy."

"Good, girl," Bob nodded. "Graham, you can go now. We'll execute him first thing in the morning. You make the preparations. I want it done nice and clean, you hear me? If anything fails, I'll hold you personally responsible."

"Well, I'd better do it myself then," Graham grinned, "because I can't fail."

Elle rolled her eyes, but Bishop smiled at one of his top agents. "Quite so. Off you go, then."

Graham quickly left the office and left a disgusted Elle with her father.

"I hate that guy," Elle mumbled.

"He's an excellent agent. He has never disappointed me. Ever."

"I'm not questioning his capabilities or anything. I just don't… like him. The way he joked about killing Lucas."

"Elle, please," Bob began, "get over him. You'll meet mister Right one day, if that's what you're worried about. You didn't think he was going to be him, did you? Now be off, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Sure," Elle dryly answered. And without saying anything more, she walked out of her father's office as well. "My Mr. Right would have to kill you first," she whispered as she slammed the door behind her.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas stood up in his cell. He heard noises outside of his room. Not that that was so spectacular on its own. It were the kind of noises. Damped whispers. Whispers he recognized. For the past three and a half months, the time he had spent in this facility, this prison, whatever it was, he had heard voices coming from the rooms next to his. Lucas always guessed they were other trainees, other people who had discovered their ability and were guided here to assist the Company. The noises didn't come from his right wall this time, though. Lucas was 100% certain they were outside of his cell. He had never had the opportunity to look inside these chambers, as they were on his right and the training room and Bob's office were to the left.

Lucas quickly watched through the blinds that covered his cell's window and saw two men standing outside. They wore the same clothes Lucas was dressed in, and their hair was cut short, just like Lucas' was. One was a brown-haired guy. Lucas estimated him around 25 years of age. The other one was blond. He seemed a bit older, around 33. They were looking around suspiciously, and the way they moved around made Lucas realize something.

They were escaping. They had to be. And Lucas knew that this was his chance. His one and only shot at getting out of here. Alive. If they got themselves out of their cells, it shouldn't be a problem to get him out as well.

Lucas knocked violently on his window. "Hey!" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Help me! Get me out of here! Please!"

Lucas saw both men look at him and then at each other. The brown-haired guy nodded and then moved towards the window.

"What…" Lucas mumbled, but then something happened that freaked him out. The guy put his hand through the window, as if it was made of air. Soon, his entire body followed. He phased through the wall, and Lucas blinked twice, not really believing what he had just witnessed.

"Hi, I'm Peter," the guy said. "Give me your hand."

"I, erm. Yeah, sure, I'm Lucas by the way," Lucas answered while taking his hand.

"Just relax and don't be afraid," Peter dictated, "you'll be fine as long as you keep hold of my hand."

"Okay," Lucas answered, realizing that it was best to do as Peter asked. He knew this was how they had escaped their cell and that Peter possessed the same ability as Crashdown from Dreyfuss' gang. He just didn't know why they had waited so long to escape. Internally shrugging, Lucas followed Peter. He felt his body go through the wall. It felt cold, yet it was nothing more than that. The only uncomfortable feeling came from his realization that he was actually walking _through_ a wall. And it was over as quickly as it had begun. He stood outside his cell, with both Peter and the blond guy looking at him.

"There's no time to lose," the blond one said. "I'm Adam, kid," he said, extending his hand.

"I'm Lucas," Lucas returned, "shaking his hand."

"Ah, a Scotsman," Adam grinned, already noticing Lucas' accent. "Never expected to see one in here…"

"No, I'm from Manchester," Lucas replied, shaking his head. "Though my father is from Scotland."

"Jolly. I'm from Oxford. But we don't have time for this. Let's go, Peter…"

Peter and Adam started to run. Not knowing what else to do, Lucas followed them. "Where are you guys going."

"Hospital," Peter replied. "We need to cure my brother."

"Can I come?" Lucas asked, not knowing where else to go than with these two men.

"You'd be wise not to," Adam answered. "I can only get 2 people to safety, myself included. And they're going to hunt us down."

They stopped at a corner, waiting for some people to pass them by. When they were gone, Peter and Adam started making their way towards the exit. Lucas continued to follow them.

"Please, I don't know where else to go."

"What's your ability, kid?" Adam asked.

"I… can shift my shape," Lucas answered. "What's yours?"

"I'm immortal," Adam dryly answered, as if it was the most common thing in the world.

"Immortal?" Lucas asked, having trouble hiding the cynical undertone in his voice.

"You're new to all this ability-stuff, aren't you, Luke?" Adam asked.

"Hmmhmm," Lucas answered affirmatively.

"I can tell. You're not willing to believe what you see. If you're a shape shifter, you don't need us to get away. Shift into someone else's shape and get the hell away from this place."

It seemed logical, but Lucas was still afraid of being on his own. And he had never shifted his shape without the guidance of either Elle, Kevin or Graham. Still, it was worth a try.

It didn't take the trio long to find their way out of the building. Peter's phasing came in real handy when they were confronted with locked doors, and Adam's knowledge of the building and apparent intelligence certainly helped in the matter.

"I'm sorry, but you're on your own from now on, Lucas," Peter said. Lucas caught the genuine regret and guilt in his voice, but he couldn't blame him. He realized he was baggage and that curing a brother preceded helping a shape shifting total stranger on the list of top priorities. Peter and Adam ran away in the direction of the hospital.

Lucas was on his own again, but this time he was actively being hunted. Or he soon would be. He decided he couldn't wait for much longer, and concentrated. His intention was to follow Adam's advice: shift his shape, then get away without drawing any attention. He wanted to go home, even though he knew that's where they'd look for him first. The simple truth was he had nowhere else to go. And nowhere else he wanted to go. He'd do anything just to see his parents and John again.

Lucas closed his eyes, remembering from past experiences it helped him concentrate. But a few seconds later, he heard a loud 'click' near the temple of his skull.

"Gotcha, you sneaky jackass," Graham said with a sly grin.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Careful," Natalia bode, as Maarten helped her husband on the front seat of the car. Andrej had been diagnosed with lung cancer a couple of weeks ago and was undergoing chemotherapy. Natalia and Andrej were going to the hospital right now for another session. It gave Maarten grief to see his sister as sad as she was. She loved her husband very much, and it was not difficult to understand why. In the time they had spent together, Maarten had come to appreciate Andrej as a person and they had become good friends. Maarten was still staying at Andrej and his sister's house, and he was understandably grateful.

He did not miss The Company, but sometimes he found regular civil life a bit boring. Natalia joked it was common procedure for a superpowered man who had been chasing superpowered villains for the major chunk of his lifespan to be a bit bored every now and then. Maarten realized there was a lot of truth in those words.

As Natalia drove off with Andrej next to her, Maarten made his way back into the house. It was a bit cold inside, and Maarten lit the fireplace in the living room with a flick of his hand. As soon as the fire was cracking gently on top of the wood, Maarten sat himself down in a comfy armchair, grabbed a bottle of Vodka and a glass. He lit up his hand, and stared at the blue flames in his hand with a sense of melancholy. He was almost ashamed to say he was itching for an opportunity to put his abilities to the test again. Doing stuff like lighting the fireplace was all very practical and so on and so forth, but Maarten feared his proficiency with flames would vanish over time. After all, he was once known as the best pyrokinesist and one of the most dangerous agents the Company had to offer. And he had enough pride left in him to reject the prospect of being a human cigarette lighter. Still, he knew he was getting old. He was well into his fifties and he would've had to retire from being a Company agent in a couple of years anyway. And he liked the peace and quiet that came with his new life. But he was a bit frustrated when he heard on the radio how criminals got away, how the police was at loss about what to do next,… It made him want to jump up from his seat and do something about it. Natalia had suggested joining the local police force, but Maarten knew they wouldn't hire a man who had officially worked for a paper company in the USA all his life.

He emptied his glass of vodka while musing about his past, his present and his future. When he poured the next, something alerted him. A noise, barely louder than a sigh. Right behind him. Maarten's instincts told him to keep acting natural, but he prepared himself. He knew there was someone or something behind him. He hadn't drunk nearly enough to get delusional. He heard another soft movement. He put the bottle and the glass down on the table and sat back in his chair. He stroked his moustache with his left hand, but opened up the right one. He had to be careful. Overdo it and Natalia's house would be on fire. And he didn't want that.

As fast as he still could manage, he sprang up and turned around. A concentrated ray of fire flew through the air, hitting someone in the chest. The intruder flew backwards onto the ground. Maarten jumped on top of him, put the fire out before it could cause any real injury and put his knees on top his arms and his right forearm on his throat.

"What do you want?" Maarten shouted in English. He guessed this intrusion was no coincidence and that the Company was on his tail. It infuriated him.

"Maarten, it's me," a dampened voice whispered with what sounded like great effort.

Maarten took a closer look at the face of his unknown assailant and quickly released him. He stood up and looked at the person in shock.

"Lucas?"

Lucas nodded, getting up slowly. "Correct."

"What on Earth are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously. He did not fully trust him yet. After all, last time he had seen him he was being considered for Company training. The thought of this being another shape shifter in Lucas' form flashed through his mind, but the Scottish accent was unmistakable.

"I need your help," Lucas softly said.

"Help? What do you mean? How did you get all the way to Russia? How do you know where I live?" Maarten asked, firing questions at the boy.

"Listen, there isn't much time," Lucas declared, "I need your help with something very, very important."

"What do you mean?" Maarten asked again, confused by this sudden turn of events.

"I am not the Lucas you know. The present me is currently escaping from Primatech. At this very moment."

"Present you? So that means you're…"

"From the future, yes," Lucas nodded.

"Chush' sobach'ya," Maarten cursed in Russian, "that's impossible. There haven't been time travellers since..."

"The funny thing with time travellers," Lucas intervened, "is that you can't refer to them in any tense accurately."

Maarten sighed. "Fine, what do you want?"

"I need you to save me, Maarten."

"How so?"

"If you do not save me, the world as we know will end. If you refuse, the space-time continuum will implode and the world will cease to exist. It would cause paradoxes so massive the rifts in time could never be undone, healed or restored. Please, Maarten, you have to do this!" Lucas forcefully said, slowly approaching Maarten.

The Russian pyrokinesist pursed his lips and stared at the ground. "I will, but...I don't understand." He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he felt obligated to help Lucas. After all, he was partly responsible for the position he was in. And it didn't sound good.

"You will understand, very soon! But for now, all is lost if you do not save me."

"Save you? I don't even know what from! Or from whom!"

"It will all become clear to you. Here, hang on a sec..." Lucas said, looking for something in his pockets. He retrieved a piece of paper and showed it to Maarten. "This is your escape route," Lucas clarified. "When you and... I are out of danger take me to these addresses."

"Who lives there?" Maarten asked. "And how do I... we... get there?"

"The first ones are good people. People you can trust. They shouldn't be that far from the location I'm going to send you to."

"What? You're going to send me? But I thought..."

"Never mind," Lucas dismissed him, "that doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you save me. After that, bring me to the first address. When you're finished there, you will know what to do when you reach the second one."

"And how do I get back home?"

"Don't worry about that either. Now, are you ready?"

"I, erm..." Maarten stuttered, not really knowing what to say or do. He shook his head and quickly put on his shoes and coat. "Oh, wait," he said, remembering something. "Gotta take care of something else first."

The future Lucas sighed impatiently while Maarten took a note and scribbled some words on it. "For my sister," Maarten explained. "Don't want her to worry."

"Ain't that peachy. Now come on!" Lucas said. "Just relax. Be quick. Focus. And whatever you do, don't fail! Because you've only got one shot."

"You're not going to help me, then?" Maarten wondered.

"No, I can't directly interfere with my past self. And it's probably for the best if you do not mention I brought you here. Ready?"

"Yeah, I gue..." and before he could finish his sentence, Maarten was teleported through space.

XXX___XXX___XXX

The scenery changed. The first thing Maarten saw was a large building he was all too familiar with. "Primatech..." he whispered softly, and looked around. Lucas had told him he would immediately 'understand'. But he didn't so far...

"Gotcha, you sneaky jackass," Maarten heard a familiar voice say over his shoulder. He quickly turned around and understood.

He saw Graham pinning Lucas against a wall near the corner of the street. The present Lucas. For some reason, it wasn't hard to tell the difference between the two of them. The future Lucas looked older. More mature. More confident. And for some reason, Maarten _felt_ the future Lucas was a lot more powerful than his present-day counterpart. He noticed Graham was holding a gun and realized he had to move quickly. This had to be a rush-in job. No need for stealth or guile.

"Graham!" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Leave him alone!"

Surprised, Graham released Lucas and turned around. A suspicious and surprised frown appeared on Graham's brow. "Maarten? What are you doing here? I thought you were-"

"Leave the kid alone. You'll have to go through me first."

"That wouldn't be wise, old friend," Graham stated with a cocky smile.

Maarten gestured at Lucas to come closer. But Graham pointed his gun at Lucas.

"Stay right there!" Graham shouted.

"Let him go, Graham," Maarten threatened, "or you're going to burn."

"No!" Graham shouted, now pointing his gun at Maarten again. "You're going to leave. Right here, right now! And you know I can't miss, Maarten! I've never missed a shot in my entire life."

"I can dodge a bullet easy enough. You can't miss a still object. You can't miss a slowly walking object with a sniper rifle which bullets travel faster than sound. However, a dodging opponent while sporting a mini gun...? I'd like to see that. You don't know which way I'm going to roll."

"50-50, then. I don't like your odds. Especially when I've got 5 more bullets in my chamber."

"Now that we're talking about odds... I sport some guns too, you know," Maarten said and he lit up his hands. Huge flames emanated from his palms, lighting the street. "And the good thing is, I have wider range." He shook his hands and the flames turn from deep orange to blue. "And I'm packing a lot more heat."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by your fireworks, then?" Graham sneered.

"Impressed enough to hand the kid over."

"Mission failed."

"Then you leave me with little choice."

Maarten threw his arms forward and long streams of fire and heat shot forth at Graham, who was caught slightly off guard. However, he rolled perfectly underneath both streams of fire. Maarten had anticipated this and shifted his stream to the left, happy Graham had rolled away from Lucas. He was worried Graham would have tried to use him as a human shield, but that was out of the question now. No longer having to worry about his direct safety, Maarten added a lot more volume to the flames. Graham, whose ability did not allow him to surpass his physical limits, got caught up in the flames. Screaming, he was set on fire. He ran away, a burning pyre in the night.

Maarten ran over to Lucas, helping him up from the ground.

"Are you all right?" Maarten asked.

Lucas nodded. Relieved and satisfied, Maarten grabbed his arm.

"Come with me."

"Where are we going?" Lucas asked.

"We'll both find out soon enough," Maarten answered, and he took the little scrap of paper from his pocket.

[Next chapter: Lucas and Maarten, on the run, visit two other evolved humans; which leads to a shocking discovery.]


	14. Revelations

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 13 – Revelations

Chapter Summary: Maarten and Lucas, on the run, meet new Heroes and a shocking revelation is made.

Timeline situation: Around 'Four Months later'

Author's notes: Keep in mind that Fran is shape shifted at all times, and that both Lucas' parents and John don't know who she really is. So whenever I say 'Fran' in or after conversation, it's either in Lucas' or Rachel's shape. Also, mature content ahead.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"What a shitty episode," Frank told his wife, turning off the tv. "EastEnders has become nothing more than average these days..."

"Stop whining," Sharon told her husband. "It's better than most things on telly if you ask me."

"Yeah, well," Frank continued, getting up from the couch and stretching a bit, "I'm not watching it anymore." He slowly walked off to the kitchen, and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.

"I'm worried about Lucas," Sharon shouted at him. "He's been acting so strange lately. Last couple of months..."

"Don't worry so much," Frank assured his wife. "He's just going through a phase."

"But he has never been so rude to us before. Not even during his puberty. He ever comes down..."

"He has never come down a lot," Frank reminded her, walking back from the kitchen and sitting himself back down on the couch.

"True, but have you seen his room lately? His Xbox is gathering dust. His comics are untouched and stowed away somewhere under his bed without adding to his collection. His action figures are all in the closet. He's reading books now. That's just... not _like_ him."

Frank shrugged. "Maybe he's maturing. Ever considered that?"

"I don't know... And what about all of his nightly escapades? He never used to go out. And he doesn't want to talk about it. And John's mother says she hasn't seen Lucas around their house for ages. And we haven't seen John either come to think of it."

"For God's sake, woman, let the boy pick his own friends, yes?"

"But why doesn't he want to talk about it?"

"He's entitled to his secrets, just like any other human being."

"You're being too easy on him, Frank."

"He'll turn out all right."

"You should talk to him."

"Why me?"

"He listen to you. At least, he used to. Sometimes I don't even know if I recognise him anymore..."

Frank sighed. "Okay, okay."

Upstairs, a door opened, swiftly followed by footsteps on the stairs. Sharon whispered to her husband. "Quickly, there he is now."

Reluctantly, Frank Terry opened the door separating the living room from the small entrance hall. He saw the figure he believed to be his son walking down the stairs with a backpack. "Lucas, your mom and I need to talk to you."

"No time," Fran said. "I'm..."

"Now, son," Frank insisted, not willing to listen to any excuses.

With a deep sigh, Fran followed the real Lucas' father to the living room. Frank sat himself down again next to Sharon.

"Yes?" Fran asked, raising her eyebrows.

"We were just wondering," Sharon started, "where it is you go every single evening."

"I'm sticking my nose in my own business," Fran rudely answered.

"Come now, boy, what kind of an answer is that?" Frank asked. "You've been acting like a shitty teenage stuck in puberty these last few months. We're your parents, don't you think we're entitled to know where you're going?"

Fran sighed again. She realised that her job here was about to end soon, one way or the other. It was almost four months now since she had been undercover. During that time, she had been fucking Lucas' best friend, estranged him with his parents, gotten lousy grades at school and all sorts of other things. She was still bullied occasionally in school, but she didn't really care about that. She could endure that. But the whining of these people was what really annoyed her. It was bad enough she had to share dinner with them every day.

"Are you seeing a girl or anything?" Sharon asked.

"What? No, of course not," Fran answered, giggling internally. That was about the last thing she'd do. And, ironically, it was probably also the last thing the real Lucas would do. Still, they were not going to be content if she did not provide a valid answer. "I've... got a job."

"A job? Where?" Frank enquired.

"It's not really... I think you're going to be proud of."

"You're not into dealing drugs, are you?" Sharon asked with a concerned voice.

"No, it's nothing... illegal or anything."

"For fuck's sake, then what is it?" Frank said, starting to lose his patience.

"I, do, the, announcing at the local wrestling club," Fran stuttered, not knowing what else to say."

"Jesus Christ," Frank sighed.

"Well... Why didn't you just tell us?"

"I thought you wouldn't like it... Anyway, I really have got to go now. They're waiting for me."

"Sure thing. Get out of here," Frank agreed, waving his hand.

With a little grin, Fran turned around and walked out of the room.

"Fools," she thought. As soon as she'd left the house Frank turned to his wife.

"Maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe a little shit is all he'll ever be."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Around the corner of the street, Fran changed clothes. Her Rachel-outfit was, of course, not the same one she wore when in Lucas' shape. This was probably the most annoying part of her double life: changing clothes in the street. She couldn't risk getting caught or seen. Luckily, there was a small alley that provided excellent cover and an ideal stowaway place for her bag. As soon as she had changed, she walked towards John's house. He was the perfect toy. Strong, tall, handsome, well endowed, and... she even started to like him. It was fun to see him bend to her will and desperately trying to fulfil her every wish, no matter how tiny or big. It was the only reason she kept doing it.

John opened the door quickly, as always. Fran could tell he was madly in love with her and that this was probably one of the happiest periods in his life. They didn't talk much, but that wasn't exactly what Rachel was looking for. And neither was John.

They went upstairs immediately.

They did what they normally did: screw each other. Five minutes into the deed, however, something intervened.

Fran's cell phone rang, and she was shocked to hear that it was a special ringtone she had installed. Only to be used when Bob called. She pushed John off of her.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted. "Don't answer that! I was just..."

"Shut up!" Fran shouted back, taking her phone. Still completely naked, she walked out of the room, well out of John's hearing range. Bob didn't know about Fran's 'visits' to John's house as Rachel, so she locked the door and shifted back into Lucas' form, who had the vocal chords Bob was expecting to hear.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Fran, we've got a situation here," Bob said, getting straight to the point. "Lucas has escaped from the facility."

"What? How?"

"He got out with the help of Peter Petrelli and Adam Monroe. We believe Peter has also seriously injured Graham. He's alive, but it's not looking good."

"Shit. Is he still with them?"

"We don't think so. Peter has disappeared, I've sent Elle after him. Same goes for Monroe. But we've got no reason to believe he's with either of them."

"The little son of a bitch. What are you doing to find him?"

"We're still waiting from Graham to recover consciousness. Maybe he can tell us more. In the meantime, be vigilant, Fran! Lucas will probably try to go home. If he shows up at your doorstep, thing could get real complicated."

"I can handle him," Fran assured Bob.

"Are you sure? I can always send some backup."

"He's just an inexperienced shape shifter."

"Exactly, but he has gained a significant amount of control over his ability nonetheless."

"I can still kick his ass. I know kung fu, remember?"

"Fine. Still, it'd be best if you do not leave the house the next couple of days. Not until you receive word from me that we have him. Fake an illness or something. If you're at his home when he arrives, disable him. You are authorized to use lethal force."

"Wow, was he that bad?"

"Worse. Talk to you later, Fran."

"Bob," Fran said, concluding the phone call. This was bad. Really bad. She shifted back into Rachel's shape and hurried back to john's bedroom.

"Ah! I was beginning to wonder if... Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, seeing 'Rachel' get dressed.

"I have to go," Fran told him. "Something has come up. I can't see you for a few days."

"But... But... What about this?" John asked, pointing at his crotch. "The throbbing is more than I can handle! Come on, please just..."

"I said no!" Fran shouted, putting her t-shirt on. "Use your hands or anything, I don't care."

Without wasting any more words, Fran left the house and retrieved her backpack. She changed clothes and shifted shapes again, after which she made her way back home.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Where are we going?" Lucas asked Maarten, out of breath from running all the time. "We've been running like this for almost an hour."

"We're nearly there," was Maarten's short reply.

"That's no answer," Lucas shot back. Although he was grateful Maarten undeniably saved his life, he had a bit of trouble trusting the man who had kidnapped him. Still, it was clear Maarten and the Company were no longer associates and that both wanted the other dead. Lucas figured they were in the same situation, more or less. Lucas didn't want to kill the Company. His violence had never extended to the real world. Sure, he enjoyed slaughtering thousands of people when he assumed control of uberninja Ryu Hayabusa, but that's where he had always drawn the line. And he hoped it could stay that way.

Maarten didn't know what to think either. Luckily for him, Maarten had always had excellent navigational skills and he knew the area where they were going. Unfortunately, he didn't know where exactly that was. He hadn't exactly received lots of information, only that the fate of the world depended on it. He had not told Lucas anything about a future version of him suddenly showing up in his living room. The future one was right: the present Lucas couldn't handle that just yet. How Lucas had been able to time travel was still a mystery to Maarten. Maybe there was more to him than met the eye. Most likely, a future time traveller teleported Lucas to the precise time and place. Why Lucas himself was so important to be saved, Maarten could only guess. Maybe it was all just a joke and did Lucas just fear for his own life. If that were the case... Well, he would probably never find out anyway.

Maarten noticed a small street sign that ringed a bell. He took a quick look at the scrap of paper.

"We're here," he said.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Kate and Jonathon were sitting in the sofa. Jonathon was quickly going over a book on rocket science. Kate was watching a typical teenage girl show on MTV. About as close as she was going to get to being a normal girl.

Jonathon, her little brother, was a powerful two-year-old mastermind. His brain was so powerful he could do practically anything with it. He had the intelligence of a grown man. He could think, speak and act like one, although he still exhibited childish behavior. She loved him very dearly, and she'd do anything for him, as she had proven not so long ago.

Kate herself was twelve years older. Also still a kid by most people's standards, but she had seen and experienced more than most people ever would. And Kate considered such people to be lucky. Then again, those people weren't capable of psychokinesis: telepathy and telekinesis. It was a gift she shared with her little brother, although she seemed to lack his extraordinary intelligence.

A sudden knock on the door awoke both youngsters out of their trance. Wondering who that could be at this late hour, Kate stood up and walked towards the front door. She wasn't scared of muggers, burglars or anything of the kind. In fact, she pitied those that would ever try to harm her or her brother. They knew how to take care of herself. Which was the reason she could live in a house of her own along with Jonathon.

Still, out of curiosity, she peeked through the peephole in the front door. She saw a tall guy with a firm moustache in a long coat and a much younger guy in white clothes. They looked suspicious at first sight, but something in their eyes made Kate believe they meant no harm. She could quickly read their minds of course, but it was something she didn't do out of principle.

The door opened. To both their surprise, a girl opened the door. She was even younger than Lucas was. And yet, both men immediately felt she had a maturity to her well beyond her age. And Maarten felt she was not to be messed with. Luckily, they were here to ask for help. And future Lucas had said they were good people that could be trusted.

"Eh… Are you Kate?" Maarten hesitantly asked, looking at the sloppy writing on the little piece of paper.

"I am," she answered. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Maarten."

"Lucas," was Lucas' very short introduction. He was entranced by this girl. She was too young for him to be really sexually attractive, but in a way she made him think about Elle. She was also blonde, pretty and had a lot of self-confidence.

"We need help," Maarten said, coming straight to the point. "We were told we could find it here…"

"Oh?" she asked, surprised by this claim.

"It's a long story. Can we come in?" Maarten asked.

"I, erm… Yes, well, why not."

"Thank you," Maarten said, thanking her with a nod of his head. Lucas and him quickly entered the house. Kate closed the door behind them.

Having taken Maarten's coat, Kate guided them to the living room, where Jonathon was reading one of the last pages in the book. He looked up from his pages and greeted the two visitors with a questioning, but friendly smile.

"Jon, these are Maarten and… Lucas, was it?"

"Hi," Jonathon greeted, accompanying his words with a small wave. Both Lucas and Maarten waved back in return, somewhat dazzled by a two-year old behaving like that. But they had seen so much these last couple of days that nothing really surprised them anymore.

"They said they came here looking for our help."

"And some answers as well," Maarten added, who was a bit puzzled. Was this really the right address, he wondered. Was this the help the future Lucas had given them?

Lucas was also confused. He wondered if there was going to be an adult here, or if these were the people Maarten confided in. Still, he had seen so much these days nothing could surprise him anymore.

"Answers we might be able to provide," Jonathon intervened. "Help is something else, though we will try to be of service to the best of our… abilities," he added with a grin.

Maarten grinned. For him, the situation was clear. He realized this kid had an ability that involved extreme intelligence and brain activity. It also explained the kind of book he was reading. Lucas, however, was rather freaked out by a little kid speaking like an adult, despite his earlier claims of not being easily surprised any longer.

"You… can talk?" Lucas asked him.

"Yes, most people can," Jonathon dryly remarked. "But please, take a seat," he added, pointing to some empty chairs around the living room. Both Maarten and Lucas sat themselves down.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Lucas told Jonathon, it's just that…"

"… you've never seen a four-year-old act intelligently?" Jonathon completed the question. "No offense taken, friend. And I derive from the circumstances that you two are also evolved humans, just like us. Right?" he asked.

"Correct," Maarten said, lighting up his right hand as a little demonstration.

"I, er… Shift shapes," Lucas added.

"So tell us," Kate intervened, what can we help you guys with?"

"Well, eh… It's a long story, actually. Lucas, you do the honours, would you?" Maarten asked.

And so, Lucas told Kate and Jonathon everything from the beginning. About his home. About his first manifestation. About his abduction (for which Maarten sincerely apologized). About his training at Primatech. About his assignment. About his failure. And eventually, about his escape and Maarten rescuing him. While he talked, Kate served some drinks and a bit of food. A gesture most sincerely appreciated by the two fugitives.

"Interesting…" Jonathong mumbled after hearing everything. "Very interesting. Could I ask a favour, Lucas?"

"Erm, yeah, sure. I guess so. What do you need?" Lucas asked.

"Could you shift your shape, please? Into… someone you've met recently. Take a pick."

"Well, I could try to shift into Kate, if that's all right with you…?"

"Perfect," Jonathon nodded. "This should be interesting."

"Indeed," Kate agreed. "I always wondered how I look outside of a mirror."

Lucas closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt he was really getting the hang of it. He had touched Kate earlier while she handed him a glass of water and focused on her touch and tried to visualize her in front of him. It was the first time he changed his shape into that of a woman. It was a strange sensation indeed. He shrunk, some body parts more than others, things grew, both on the in- and outside,… After 10 seconds, he was an identical copy of the girl sitting in front of him.

He noticed how Jonathon looked at Kate and grinned. Kate looked back at him and the two just stared at each other for a while. Lucas threw a questioning look towards Maarten.

"They're communicating telepathically I think."

"Oh… I see," Lucas softly brought out with Kate's voice. "That's a bit… creepy."

"Still not used to our world, eh?" Maarten smiled. "You will. Sooner rather than later, I think."

Jonathon interrupted his silence. "Lucas, we have one more thing to ask you. Did you, apart from finding out you can shift your shape, notice any other strange things during your stay at Primatech?"

Lucas thought long and hard. There were a couple of things, but not really something that they could possibly be interested in. Although there was one thing that had always confused him…

"Well," he began, "one time I sparred with my mentor. As I told you before, he always beat my arse into a pulp, figuratively speaking. One time, though, I just _knew_ what to do. I had learned some basic moves, but for a split second I had the feeling I knew everything there possibly was to know about the art of fighting. And I used that knowledge to flatten him. I tried it afterwards, though, but I couldn't remember how exactly I did it. It was very strange."

"I think I have an explanation, Lucas," Jonathon revealed. "I think I know exactly how your ability works."

"What do you mean? I shift shapes, and…"

"No, no, no!" Jonathon interrupted, "you're not just some shape shifter! Lucas, you shift DNA and muscle memory. You can manipulate it. Transform it. You don't just change your appearance, you become an identical genetic copy of the one your portray. And because you assume their muscle memory, you look exactly like they do."

"I don't… understand," Lucas whispered, looking at Maarten again.

"If that's true," Maarten said, "then that means it's possible he…" Maarten paused, still looking at Lucas.

"Jonathon nodded. "My thoughts precisely, Maarten. Only one way to find out…" Jonathon stood up from the chair and placed Lucas' glass of water right in front of him. "You are now an identical genetic copy of Kate. A person's ability is locked away in his genes. Everything is, one way or another. If you have the exact same genes Kate has, and Kate's genes allow her telekinetic and telepathic powers, it's highly possible you can do the same, Lucas. Try it."

"I can… wait, what?" Lucas answered, confused by this sudden revelation.

"You can assume the abilities and skills of those you've transformed into," Maarten explained. "Jonathon's saying that, for example, if you shifted into me, you could also control fire, like I can." And suddenly Maarten understood how the future Lucas was able to travel through time and teleport him here. But he wasn't going to reveal that just yet.

"That's… impossible," Lucas stuttered. "Is it?" he asked, looking at Jonathon.

"Only one way to find out," the young boy answered, nodding at the glass.

"So… what, I have to move this glass with my mind, right?" Lucas skeptically said.

"Indeed. If my theory is correct, you should be able to. After all, you're still in Kate's shape."

"You make it sound like he's an Autobot or something," Kate joked, to which Lucas grinned. Maarten and Jonathon didn't get the joke, but Lucas most certainly did.

"All right then… Here goes…" Lucas said, concentrating on the glass in front of him.

"Just imagine what you're about to do. The ability should do the rest," Kate guided him. "And because you also have my muscle memory, your proficiency should be the same. So be careful and gentle. I'm quite strong, you know."

"Okay…" Lucas whispered, focusing on the glass. But nothing happened. "It's not working," he said, somehow disappointed and somehow very happy.

"That's because you don't believe you can," Maarten said, somewhat irritated. "Believe in yourself for once, damn it! You can do this, kid!"

Lucas nodded and reassembled his focus. He stared at the glass, imagining it to levitate. And then, the glass flew upwards with such force it hit the ceiling, sending shattered glass all across the living room.

"Seems like you need to control your powers," Kate grinned. "Maybe it would've been better to start with imitating someone less powerful."

"I, erm… Did I do that?" Lucas asked out loud.

"You sure did," Jonathon smiled. "But, as Kate said, you need to control the ability. With time and experience, you will."

"Yeah, I heard that before," Lucas mumbled. And he slowly started shifting back to his original self. "I'll practice more later," he clarified with his own vocal chords. "I, erm… Need some time to think. And rest."

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Maarten added, "I could use a good night's sleep as well. We better be on our way, then, to find a place to sleep."

"Oh, no, that's out of the question," Kate said. "You're staying with us here tonight. It's much too late to be wondering around in the dark, especially with those Company agents on your heels."

"We do not wish to intrude," Maarten refused the offer, "and we do not want to endanger you and your little brother."

"Believe me, you're endangering the Company agents by bringing them here. It's much safer for the four of us if we stay together for now."

"Well," Lucas intervened, "I'm all for safety."

"You're being too kind," Maarten thanked Kate. "But I deeply thank you for all the help you and your brother have provided."

"Don't mention it. Maarten, you can have the double bed upstairs. Lucas, you can sleep in my bed. Jonathon can sleep in his own; I'll sleep on the couch."

"Oh no," Lucas denied, "you can sleep in your own bed. I'll sleep on the couch. I insist. Compared to the cot in my cell at Primatech, it'll be like sleeping on sheets of silk and satin."

"Very well, then," Jonathon smiled. "I must say, this is all very exciting. Company agents, the discovery of an ability I've never even heard of before, discussing what bed we're going to sleep in… I'm anxious to see what the future will bring!"

XXX___XXX___XXX

"How is he?" Kevin asked Bob. They were standing next to Graham's bed. He was almost entirely covered in bandages.

"Bad shape, obviously," Bob stated. "2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his body. Petrelli must've done this, there's no other way. There's no way Monroe or the Terry kid could've burnt him like this. Poor guy."

"Is he going to make it?"

"Graham's tough. We're lucky we found him when we did, though. Still, his ability might help him recover faster than average humans. Not like someone with rapid cellular regeneration like Monroe, but faster nonetheless."

"How so?" Kevin asked.

"Graham has the ability to succeed in every single physical action that lies within his physical limits. His body automatically takes the right course of action in every situation, guided by Graham's will. Therefore, his wounds will regenerate faster. He should be okay."

"Can he talk? He might know something useful… Like where the fugitives went!"

"I've already sent Elle to track down Peter Petrelli. Where Monroe and Lucas went is still a mystery. Doctor says it's okay to wake him up for a couple of minutes. No more. He needs to rest as much as possible."

"Well, time's wasting I'd say," Kevin declared with a faint grin.

"True," Bob agreed. He tapped on some pads on Graham's bed, which slightly erected itself, putting Graham's upper body in a higher position. The console bleeped a couple of times.

"Graham?" Bob asked loudly, "Can you hear us? It's me, Bob. Kevin's here as well!"

Slowly, Graham opened his eyes. He had an excruciatingly painful look in them. He looked directly at Bob, but said nothing. The faintest trace of a nod suggested an affirmative answer, though.

"We need to know who did this to you. And more importantly: where they went!" Bob continued.

Graham tore open his chapped lips. He tried to say something, but the sound was very distorted. Bob brought his left ear closer to his mouth, and he could faintly understand three words.

"It was Maarten."

XXX___XXX___XXX

Author's Notes: Kate and Jonathon are not my own characters. They were created by ScifigeekET and are featured prominently in the fanfic 'Kate vs. Sylar', found at this link: .net/s/5552133/1/Kate_vs_Sylar

I would like to thank ScifigeekET for the contributions to this chapter!

[Next chapter: Lucas and Maarten go to the second address. With Lucas' newfound powers, things are looking up. However, far away from there, things take a nasty turn.]


	15. A long way from home

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 14 – A long way from home

Chapter Summary: After saying goodbye to Kate and Jonathon, Maarten and Lucas go to the second mystery address. The Company however, does not forgive and does not forget.

Timeline situation: Around 'Four Months later'

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Okay, guys," Kevin said to the two near-identical Farrar twins, "it's time to go. Remember, this is just a recon mission. We're to go and check the validity of Graham's accusation, nothing more. Got that?"

Brian and Jack Farrar nodded.

"Okay. So you both know exactly where we're going, yes?"

"We're not imbeciles," Brian said as a way of affirming.

"And we're no newbies either," Jack agreed.

"We do what we need to do."

"And we do it efficiently."

"Yes, yes, all right," Kevin interrupted them, "I didn't mean nothing by it. Now, if you guys are ready, let's go..."

Brian put one hand on Kevin's shoulder and the other one on his brother's. Jack put on hand on Kevin's other shoulder and one on Brian's. The Farrars could only teleport other things and people, so their co-operation was needed to teleport themselves as well. Otherwise the other one couldn't get back. And that was inconvenient to say the least. With a soft popping noise the trio teleported through space.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas and Maarten got off the train. They had said their goodbyes to Kate and Jonathon yesterday morning and had been travelling all day and night long. Maarten wouldn't tell Lucas why exactly they were heading where they were headed. Lucas joked by saying he could try and read Maarten's mind. Maarten had laughed, but inside he knew it was probably true. Lucas could, if he changed into the little kid's shape. Luckily for Maarten, Lucas didn't mean it. His curiosity was left unsatisfied, though and Lucas continued his inquiries when they walked out of the train station.

"So, will you tell me what we're doing in Chandler, Maarten?"

"We're here to see someone," was Maarten's simple answer. It was the same he had given 20 times before.

"Yes, but why come all the way to Arizona to do it?" Lucas asked. "I mean, what's here that could be so special?"

"Beats me…" Maarten replied, licking his lips. He was only partly lying. Although he knew where they were going, he had no idea _why_ or how the person on future Lucas' scrap of paper could possibly help them. He had one solid theory, though. And that was that the person on that paper was an evolved human. One with a gift so great that the current Lucas needed to inherit it and save the world with it. But what ability could possibly do that?

"We're here," Maarten ultimately said. Judging by the street signs, they were at the exact right spot. But there was something strange about the whole situation, though.

"_Park regency senior living._ A retirement home?" Lucas grinned. "Why did we need to come here for?"

"We'll soon find out," Maarten said, walking inside.

"So you don't even know, right? Whose orders are you following then?" Lucas asked, following the tall Russian.

"Not Primatech's, if that's what you're worried about," Maarten joked.

"Aha, so you don't deny following orders? Come on, tell me!"

"It's not important. All that matters is finding this person," he told Lucas, waving the scrap of paper about with his hand. "And remember: when we meet this guy you touch him, subtly disappear, shift into Jonathon and try to read his mind. That's the only way you're going to know what ability he has. He might feel threatened otherwise." Lucas thought Maarten had a talent for simplifying things. After all, he had never read a mind before. The plan was, according to him, a bit chaotic and doomed to fail. But it was the best they had.  
They got at the front desk, where a middle-aged woman was reading an _Elle_. She saw both men and quickly put the magazine away, greeting them with a bright smile.

"Hello, how can I help you gentlemen today?"

"Hi, we're looking for… an old acquaintance of ours."

"Sure," the receptionist said, "I know every single one of our residents. Just tell me who he or she is and I'll guide you to the room."

"We're looking for one… Ernie Crum?" Maarten hesitantly asked, checking the scrap of paper to assure he didn't give her a wrong name.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Crum! Oh, he's such a sweet old man, and he hasn't had any visitors since he came here all those years ago. I'm so glad someone's finally here to see him. Please follow me!"

The receptionist got out of her chair, wrote a quick 'back soon'-note and motioned the two men to follow her. They took an elevator to the 3rd floor and stopped at room 312.

"Here it is, gentlemen, I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you." She knocked on the door, opened it and put her head around the corner. "Mr. Crum? There are two men here to see you." She turned her attention back to Maarten and Lucas. "It's okay, you can go in." She turned around and left. Maarten hesitantly opened the door further. What he saw as an old man lying in his bed. He had white hair and ditto moustache. His face was very wrinkly and had very sad eyes. Eyes which he directed towards Maarten. Then he spoke. Three simple words. One very simple question.

"Who are you?"

Maarten stepped inside the room and Lucas swiftly followed. Maarten had not prepared an introduction or anything, but the good thing about having experience as a Company agent was that he had developed a talent for improvising.

"We are two journalists," Maarten made up, "interested in the stories of the elderly people. I have some questions for you, if you do not mind." Maarten counted on the fact that most old people like to talk about the past. He walked up to the bed and shook Ernie's hand. Lucas quickly did the same, completing his first goal: touching Ernie. While he took a step back he grew more confident. Somehow he felt he could change into the guy if he wanted. It was a great feeling.

"Yeah, sure, though I'm not sure what I can tell you," Ernie smiled. "So tell me, what do you want to know?"

Maarten looked at Lucas, then nodded towards the bathroom door. Lucas got the hint and spoke up.

"Excuse me sir, could I use your bathroom for a moment? It's quite urgent."

"Eh… Sure, kid, go ahead," Ernie agreed.

Gratefully, Lucas stepped inside the bathroom. It was a nice one: clean and fully equipped. Everything a home for the elder could need. While Maarten continued their improvised interview, Lucas concentrated on shifting his shape. He felt that the more he did it, the faster he could do it. Changing into Jonathon was a strange sensation, though, almost as weird as changing into a girl. He shrunk a lot, and he grew a lot lighter. Lucas barely reached the sink after completing his transformation and that was very odd. It felt like he was in an XL-version of the world. Even his clothes had become way too big for him. Like he was wrapped in the clothes of a giant.

When focusing back on the task at hand, Lucas noticed something remarkable. He was suddenly a lot smarter. He felt like he could do the most complicated mathematical sums without even having to think about it. Like he could read a book in 2 minutes a fully recite it. He immediately realized it was Jonathon's ability having that effect on him. The kid had brains ten times the capacity and power of a fully pimped supercomputer even NASA would not be able to afford. And because of that sudden drastic raise of IQ and intelligence, Lucas knew what was the best way to try and read minds. And with all his power of will, he reached out towards the thoughts of the old man in the room next door. And he did it. The man's brain and memories were like an open book to Lucas. He could immediately tell what the guy was thinking . He could dig into his brains, retrieving memories from times past. However, Lucas suddenly hit a wall. Jonathon's ability made him realize that the guy suffered from amnesia. However, the brute force of his brainpower could sneak through that wall and it unlocked secrets even Ernie himself had forgotten: the unbelievable power of his ability.

Looking at Ernie's memories as if he was reading a book, he saw that Ernie's real name was Arnold. That he was born in 1976. That he was about 76 years old. And… "Wait a minute," Lucas thought. "That can't be right." He dug deeper and saw old flashes of a younger Ernie suddenly disappearing in thin air. He saw flashes of Ernie warped through time. He saw images of him looking at a clock that indicated '15th March 1961' as the date.

Lucas tore himself out of Ernie's brain. It was almost like regaining your own consciousness. And Lucas knew. Lucas understood. Ernie, Arnold, whatever his name was, the guy could do incredible things. Not only could he teleport himself to anywhere on Earth, he could also travel through time…  
A shudder went down Lucas' spine as he transformed back into his own self. "What a power to have…" Lucas thought as he drastically felt his brainpower decrease and the effects of Jonathon's ability fade away. "Travelling through time. The guy holds the fate of the entire world in his hands. He could change everything if he wanted to. He could walk among dinosaurs, he could watch the crusades, he could witness the battle of Waterloo, he could strangle Hitler in his cradle if he wanted. It was scary to think how much power this ability had and how much damage it could do in the wrong hands. And it was an odd feeling to think that Lucas could also do it. If he changed into Arnold, he could do the same things he could.  
Oh, Maarten was going to love this.

Lucas stepped back into the room after flushing the toilet. He saw Maarten playing his role as a journalist very well, even taking notes. When he saw Lucas, though, he was rather relieved.

"Thank you, Mr. Crum, it was very nice talking to you. I believe this could become a great story," he said, nodding and shaking his hand again. Lucas followed Maarten's example.

"It was no problem," Ernie assured them with a smile. Maarten had been right. The guy liked talking about the past even though, so Lucas knew, he didn't remember everything. And maybe it was for the best. Because Ernie could not recall his ability either.

15 minutes later, they were walking on the sidewalk. An uneasy silence had dominated their interaction. Maarten guided Lucas into an alley, determined to get some answers at last. He was burning with questions, but he feared a busy sidewalk wasn't the right place to see them answered.

"Lucas, we need to talk," Maarten calmly said, gripping the youngster's shoulder. "I need to know if it worked."

"It… did work, yes," Lucas nodded. "And it was a strange experience, yet thoroughly enlightening."

"Tell me about it," Maarten demanded in a friendly fashion.

And so Lucas told him. Of Ernie, whose real name was Arnold. That he could bend space and time. That he had amnesia. That he could now copy his gift.

Maarten listened carefully. He was shocked to learn that Arnold could bend space and time. It was a gift every single Primatech agent feared to no end. Maarten thought it extremely convenient Arnold had forgotten about his gift a long time ago. Time travelers had a way of screwing with things, especially those involving them. Luckily, they were a rare breed. A very, very rare breed. Only two had been known prior to this case: Hiro Nakamura, whom the Company reluctantly ignored, and Peter Petrelli, who was now apparently on the run. The revelation of a third, and with Lucas' ability to copy others a fourth, alarmed his Company instincts. Still, a little bell rung inside his head.

"Lucas," he said, grasping the teenager's shoulders with both his hands and slightly shaking him, "that's it!"

"It's what?" Lucas asked, not knowing what Maarten meant. At all.

"Our ticket home! Look, you can use Ernie… I mean, Arnold's ability, _da_?"

"Theoretically, yeah."

"Well, shift into him and take me home, back to Russia. Then you can go home yourself! It takes less than a minute!"

"I, erm… Well, I suppose it won't hurt to try," Lucas shrugged, thinking Maarten's idea was a very good one. He longed to go home. Badly. He had been away from home for so long now. If this was the solution, he'd do it. And he did what he always did: concentrate on the person in question and try and be like him. Feel a connection with that person. And he felt his body rapidly aging. His hair grew thin and grey, his skin got wrinkly and dry, a firm moustache grew. And he got a small headache as well. He didn't know how or why, but it was there. But that didn't matter a lot right now. Soon, he was a genetically identical copy of old Mr. Crum. Maarten gave Lucas an approving look.

"You've gotten a lot better at this. You're making good progress. Keep this up and you'll become real powerful, you know."

"Thanks," Lucas smiled, and the voice he produced startled him. Raw and weak. "But I don't really know how to teleport or time travel," he admitted. Using Jonathon's abilities wasn't so hard as his super intelligence was passive and that enabled him to fully comprehend himself and Jonathon's ability. That was not the case now…

"The Farrars once told me," Maarten revealed in an effort to explain, "that in order to teleport things, they only needed to concentrate on the place they wanted to go and clearly have the intention of teleporting things there. Ability does the rest. Simple as that."

"So you think my ability… I mean Arnold's ability works in a similar fashion?"

"Most likely, yes. Most abilities are all about concentration and determination. It's just that the better you train your ability, the less of both is required to control it."

"I think I understand," Lucas nodded. "So I just need to concentrate really hard on the place I want to go to?"

Maarten nodded affirmatively. "Yes. I don't know how well Arnold had developed his ability prior to his amnesia, so it might actually be easier than you think."

"I see. So if I concentrate on my home really badly I… suddenly appear there, right?"

"Yes," Maarten smiled. The kid was still, after everything they had seen, shrouded in disbelief. He didn't blame him. It took Maarten a long time himself to put everything straight. And he had been even younger than Lucas when he first manifested or received knowledge about other evolved humans all around the world.

"Well, here goes nothing," Lucas sighed, laying his hand on Maarten's shoulder. Heavily concentrating on Maarten's home, the two men vanished into thin air.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Remember guys," Kevin told the Farrars when pressing the doorbell, "whatever it takes. If he's here, we take him down. If he's not here, we find out where he is. By all means necessary."

"What if she really doesn't know where he is?" Jack Farrar suggested.

"Then..." Kevin sighed, "we make him come after us."

The Farrars grinned, but Kevin didn't like it one bit. He realized he was on the verge of mutiny, but he feared the Farrars and their ability more than he would ever admit. They could teleport him straight into a wall, into outer space, put him underground,... And he knew they would do so at the slightest hint of insubordination. No, he was going to do this the way the Company wanted. The goal justifies the means. They were lucky the house was quite desolate, though. The last thing he wanted was attracting too much attention from curious neighbours.

A woman opened the door, and Kevin could immediately tell they were at the right address. The family resemblance between Maarten and his sister was almost uncanny. If not for the moustache, the clothes and the hairstyle, Kevin could've sworn it was Maarten himself he was looking at.

"Can I help you?" she asked in Russian. Kevin saw the fear in her eyes. It was obvious she was hiding something.

"We're here on behalf of our employer," Kevin answered in English. "Who also happens to be your brother's former employer. We need to talk to him about something."

"Maarten's not here," Natalia answered, continuing the conversation in English as well. "I haven't seen him for years."

Kevin noticed she lied by the twitches around the corners of her mouth and the way she avoided looking into his eyes. "That's a lie, woman, and you know it is. We are authorised to use violence. Now for the last time, where is your brother Maarten?"

"Please go," Natalia answered as she closed the door, but Kevin violently shoved a foot inside, preventing the door from closing.

"That's not going to do you any good," Kevin warned. "Tell us where he is!"

"I don't know! He was here, but he suddenly left! I have no idea where he is now. Please go, my husband is sick and dying!" Natalia cried from behind the door, her futile efforts to close it draining all her energy.

After a small nod from Kevin, Jack and Brian grabbed each other's shoulders and teleported inside. They appeared right behind her and Brian grabbed her by the stomach. Natalia fell to the ground, and Jack pinned her to the floor. Kevin calmly stepped inside the house. They heard a voice coming from inside the living room.

"Natalia?" a weak man yelled, "what's happening?"

"Take care of the other one," Jack told his twin brother Brian. Brian made his way towards Natalia's husband Andre. A loud _thud_ later, he was unconscious. In the mean time, Jack dragged Natalia into the living room by her feet. However, she struggled. Kevin took care of that with a sharp kick to her temple. It took all of his Primatech training not to feel sorry for her.

"Put her in the sofa," Kevin commanded, "next to her husband. And wake them up. You haven't killed him, did you, Brian?"

"Of course not," Brian grinned. "Just enough to knock him out. No more, no less."

"Good. Now wake them up."

After a couple of minutes trying to wake both of them up, Natalia and Andrej stared straight into the eyes of the men keeping them captive.

"What do you want?" Andrej softly asked. Kevin could tell from his voice, the state of his skin, his bald skull and the many bottles of pills around the house that he was likely suffering from cancer. In an advanced stage. It tested his resolve even further.

"They want to know where Maarten is," Natalia answered.

"But we don't know!" Andrej said, raising his voice as loud as he could possibly muster.

"Don't lie to us, we know he's been here. We sent him here," Brian Farrar hissed.

"So where is he?" Jack Farrar asked yet again.

"I swear to God, we don't know," Natalia insisted.

"We can prove it," Andrej revealed. "He left us a note. Said he would be gone for a couple of days. Didn't say where he went."

"Andrej!" Natalia shouted. "Be silent!"

"I'm sorry, Natalia, but there's no way they'll believe us otherwise!"

"Where's the note?" Kevin asked.

"Cupboard over there," Andrej nodded towards a small wooden cupboard near the open fire. "Top drawer."

"Go check it out, Jack," Kevin ordered, and the teleporter did as was asked. He opened the drawer and looked inside. He retrieved a hastily scrawled note. He glanced at it, forming the written words with his lips. He looked up at Kevin.

"They're telling the truth," he nodded.

"That's unfortunate," Brian said, retrieving the gun stuck underneath his belt.

"What?" Andrej asked. "We told you the truth! We don't know where he is!"

"Then we make him come after us," Jack nodded. "Do it!"

Brian unlocked the safety on his gun. He aimed it at the forehead of Andrej and pulled the trigger. The cancer patient's brains blew out at the back of his head, his head knocked back by the impact, then falling onto his chest. Natalia screamed with fear, anger and disbelief. Her husband had just been killed.

"You dirt sons of bitches!" she shouted, "my brother will make you..."

Brian ended her screams with another bullet. Natalia's lifeless body slumped against that of her already deceased love.

"We're done here," Brian said with a grin. Kevin could not believe the teleporter enjoyed this. He had been fighting with his conscience the entire time. On the verge of stopping Brian pulling his trigger. But it didn't matter any longer. The deed had been done and that was that.

"Torch the place," Kevin said.

"The irony of it is astounding," Jack Farrar grinned.

XXX___XXX___XXX

As soon as Maarten and Lucas appeared they saw it. The desolate house, burning intensely. Maarten's mouth fell open in disbelief and his face turned pale. They saw three silhouettes observing the flames, one of whom Lucas recognised instantly by his broad shoulders, bald skull and long coat. Kevin, his former trainer at the Primatech facility in New York. The two others were nearly identical. The Farrar brothers, who had been present during Lucas' briefing, he realised.

"No..." Maarten whispered. But his voice changed, evolving from a soft whisper to a loud, agonising roar. "No! No, no, no, NO, NOOOOOOO!!"

Blue flames lit up from his hands and the tall Russian started running towards the three men overlooking the scene. Noticing the furious human fireball headed their way, the Farrars grabbed each other and Kevin by the shoulder and teleported away, their mission and objective complete.

The first floor collapsed, crushing everything underneath. Maarten fell to his knees, tears flowing from his eyes. Lucas stood by his side, not knowing whether words or actions could comfort him. But as Maarten looked up with blood-shot eyes and contorted mouth, Lucas knew one thing for sure: those responsible for this were going to pay.

XXX___XXX___XXX

[Author's notes: For those of you who don't know: Ernie Crum is actually Arnold, the old space and time manipulator at the Sullivan Bros. Carnival. You can always check the Heroes wiki for more background info on him. It will also explain why he changed his name and all that. It might let some pieces fall into place, so I certainly recommend checking it out.]

Next chapter: Maarten, insane with grief and fury, opts for lone vengeance. Lucas goes home at last.]eroHH

[


	16. Murderous Intent

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 15 – Murderous Intent

Chapter Summary: Maarten goes on a quest for vengeance and he wants to do it alone. Lucas goes home to find his old life in ruins and all of his relationships destroyed.

Timeline situation: Around 'Four Months later'

XXX___XXX___XXX

"I'm sorry, Maarten," Lucas eventually said, after the fire had been extinguished. The remnants of the house were still smouldering and Maarten sat on the ground, watching the pile of rubble that had once been the house of him and the only family he had left.

"It's not your fault," Maarten said with a husky, trembling voice.

Somehow Lucas didn't exactly agree. He was pretty this was a repercussion of what Maarten had done to Graham. And the only reason Maarten had done that was to save him. But he didn't say that out loud. He didn't have to. Maarten continued talking.

"You didn't burn my house down. You didn't kill my sister or Andrej. You did what you had to and I can't blame you for that. It'd be too easy... No, I don't blame you, Lucas, even though I could. But I don't have the right after what I did to you."

Lucas didn't know what to say. So he kept silent. But then, an absurd idea popped into his mind. So absurd that it might even work. He didn't want to get too excited, but he had said it before he could reconsider.

"What if I went back in time and stopped them?" he suggested. After all, he could. Theoretically. He had never done it before, but... It was possible. And he still had trouble believing it.

"No!" Maarten sharply refused. "Going back in time is... not right. Only very experienced and wise time manipulators can do that without stepping on any butterflies and still change the past without severe repercussions. And with all due respect, Lucas, you belong to neither category. I don't think it'll do any good. Time will heal itself, in this case. I'm sure of it."

"Oh..." Lucas murmured, slightly disappointed. Maarten seemed to have his reasons for not wanting Lucas to go back in time, but Lucas figured it was at least worth a shot. Still, it was Maarten's decision and he said 'no'.

"Then what are we going to do?" Lucas asked.

"You're going home," Maarten answered.

"And you?"

"There's nothing left for me here."

"In Russia?"

"This world..." Maarten sighed. "Nothing. Betrayed by those I worked for, my loved ones taken from me, no family, no job, no home, no future."

"Come with me," Lucas suggested, "to Manchester. I'm sure we could work something out with my parents, maybe..."

"I'm afraid that won't... work," Maarten smiled, touched by Lucas' kindness. "Besides, I'd put you and your family in danger. I don't want that."

"Then... What?"

"I have only one thing left," Maarten figured, "and that's the present. Me. And my ability. And I intend to make the most of it. I plan to go out with a bang."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to the Primatech headquarters. And I'm going to kill them. As much of them as possible. I'm going to make them pay."

"Revenge?"

"It's all I can do. And all I want right now," he calmly stated. "Besides, they're after me. Attack is the best defence."

"But... They'll kill you!" Lucas gasped.

"Yes," Maarten said matter-of-factly. "And I'm going to take as much of them with me as I can. And that's a lot, believe me."

"Then let me come with you!"

"You're no fighter, Lucas. And even if you were... This is my fight."

Maarten stood up, the smoke from the ruins prickling his nose. It gave him a rush of adrenaline. He looked at Lucas.

"It is time. And I need your help once more, my friend."

"How so?"

"I need you to teleport me. Drop me straight into their heart."

"Maarten..." Lucas began, "I don't want to send you to your death. Especially since all you've been doing lately is saving my sorry arse."

"I want this, Lucas. I want to go out like this. My grand finale. Give me that, and my vengeance. And I'll rest easy."

Lucas sighed and nodded. He changed back into Ernie Crum, the headache reappearing as soon as the transformation was complete.

"I won't ever see you again, will I?" Lucas asked.

"You will," Maarten smiled. "I won't."

"What do you mean?"

"One day you'll understand. Farewell, my friend. I hope you can go home and find friendship and love."

"Farewell, Maarten," Lucas said, laying his hand on Maarten's shoulder with a faint smile. "I'll never forget you."

And with a soft plopping noise, Maarten was sent to the Primatech headquarters in New York and Lucas to his home in Manchester.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Maarten instantly recognised the location. The cells where Lucas had been held captive along with Peter Petrelli and Adam Monroe. He had two advantages: he knew the structure of this building like no other and no one knew he was here. He realized the latter was bound to change soon, so he wasted no time going to the very centre of the building: the office floor.

It was 2 storeys above his current location and he took the stairs to avoid being spotted by the other people in the building, as well as the camera's. He had been lucky the prison level had been empty. The lack of prisoners explained the lack of guards and camera surveillance. But he knew that once he burst out of the door on the office floor they would be all over him. So he had to be on them first. It was the only way. The office floor consisted mainly of cubicles that formed offices for each separate 'one-of-us-one-of-them' team. The good thing about that was that there was a lot of cover. The bad thing was that those inside had lots of cover as well. Luckily for him, the cubicles would burn.  
As he paused in front of the door that would take him into the heart of the Primatech facility, he took a deep sigh. He realised that he wasn't taking the high road. He was opting for vengeance rather than find a constructive solution. But as far as Maarten was concerned, the Company was responsible for all the misery in his life. And they were all going to pay. Not just the three men that killed his family... Every single one. And he was going to show them why he was renowned as the most powerful pyrokinesist in the world.  
Blue flames lit up from the palms of his hands as he kicked open the door. He shot forth a powerful fire blast, clapping his wrists together and stretching out his fingers. The cubicles caught fire and mere seconds after Maarten had lit he place up he could already hear the screams of those that had been caught in the hot flames. Maarten spread out his arms at about 45 degrees. He gave it all he had. He still had the element of surprise on his side, so he had to keep on attacking and do damage when they were still vulnerable. About 10 people got caught in another blast of flames. Maarten now saw some people spotting him as the source of the attack. Several non-evomved humans drew their guns, but Maarten took care of them with a rapid flick of his wrist, sending a bolt of fire right into their face. People were running around the large room. Cubicles were burning everywhere and were being knocked over by those that were engulfed in flame. Maarten knew some of these people. Had worked with them. But he felt nothing inside. Nothing but the satisfaction of vengeance and murder. And the adrenaline that rushed through his veins, the hate that soared through his mind... It made him more powerful and more focused than ever.

He saw a man he knew all too well: Ryan Griffiths. And he focused on him. Ryan was a man who could turn his body into water. And therefore a dangerous opponent. But he wasn't about to be stopped now. Not before he had found Kevin and the Farrars... He knew fire wasn't going to do any good against Ryan from afar, so he charged at him. Once he was up close, the fire licking at his boots, he swung a right fist at him. It went straight through Ryan who liquefied his body at the moment of impact. Maarten reacted quickly by covering Ryan's temples with the palms of his hand. He activated the blue flames on his hands and gave it all he had. The heat was so intense that Ryan's head evaporated. A white mist was all that was left of Ryan's head and his body slumped to the floor, disappearing into a splash of water as it hit the concrete. Maarten wasn't sure if he was dead, but he was certain Ryan'd be out of action for some time. Enough to stay out of his way.

Maarten realized this little one on one situation had given others the time to form small groups. Maarten handily dispatched of those he saw drawing their guns. He rolled to the side to avoid a laser beam emanating from an evolved human's finger and sent a wide arch of flames in his general direction. The good thing about fire was that it had reach, flexibility, power and was very deadly or incapacitating.

After another minute of scorching everyone that got in his way, Maarten realized he hadn't seen Kevin or the Farrars. He was starting to worry. He asked himself the question whether they were actually here. He sure hoped so. There was no way he was getting out of this building now. Despite this floor having the most agents, the more important ones were one floor above him, and the strike teams and security guards were all surely guarding the entrance and exit by now. There was only one other agent he genuinely feared: Elle Bishop. With her skills, there was a good chance she'd beat him. Maarten figured she was either on a mission or one floor above him. He'd deal with her if necessary. But finding Kevin and the Farrars was his main goal.

He went back to the stairs, and climbed up one storey. He knew the element of surprise was gone. He had only one element remaining in his favour: fire. He didn't bother kicking down or opening the door that led into the large office. He unleashed a stream of flames so powerful the door was blasted in. And he saw them. Kevin, the Farrars, and other high-ranking Company officers. There were about 9 people in the room, 2 of which were not evolved humans. Kevin was one of them. Only 3 evolved humans had offensive powers. A rage took hold of him, as he dodged an incoming bolt of ice from Lisa Hammond, a woman he had previously worked with. She fired another bolt at him, but Maarten simply held up the palm of his hand. The bolt of ice evaporated instantly as it touched his hand, and Maarten followed it up with a trick of his own. A straight blue blast to her hair, which caught fire. Screaming hysterically, she tried to put it out, but it spread to her clothes and eventually her skin.  
Maarten saw the Farrars running towards each other, undoubtedly to teleport out of the place. He was determined not to let them go. He sent a steady stream of fire right between them, preventing them from reaching each other. He kept it going with one hand and focused his attention on Ishi Rabane, a man with super strength. However, being strong didn't mean immune to flames... All he had to do was set him on fire. The flames would do the rest. With Ishi burning and out of commission there was only one other evolved human that could harm him. But Maartne didn't care. He was going to pull out all the stops. He clenched his teeth and tightened every muscle in his body. He unleashed a blast so powerful it was as if the entire room combusted. Everybody within was scorched and burnt to a crisp. Kevin, the Farrars, the other evolved humans,... Maarten felt the satisfaction of his deeds as he saw their charred corpses. The fulfilment of revenge hit him. But then something happened he had not anticipated. Caught up in the moment of victory, he was grabbed from behind. Maarten didn't know who it was, or what it was. But all went black before his eyes.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Home. At long last. Lucas had teleported straight into his bedroom chamber. But for some reason, it didn't feel the way it used to. Things had changed. His action figures weren't on display, his games were stowed away, his XBOX360 disconnected, his comic books replaced by regular books. It made him a bit mad. But the thing that disturbed him the most was the breathing of the person lying in his bed. Sleeping.

He walked over and was shocked. Appalled. He was looking at the spitting image of his former self. Tiny beard, long hair, no muscles,... It was weird to see how he looked and for some reason, Lucas was almost glad he had underwent the change the Company had imposed on him.  
Still, the figure in his bed disgusted him. Lucas know who she was. A shape shifter, employed by Primatech to keep up appearances and not raise any suspicions. Lucas was enraged. He had never been an aggressive man, but he was overcome with a rage unlike any he had ever felt before... This thing... This abomination... It had to go. It had to.  
"It's not worthy of its gift," Lucas whispered as he stretched out his arms, his hands reaching for the throat of his former image. It was as if he was killing off his old self, and as he applied more pressure the person in his bed woke up. Her eyes were filled with fear. She lashed out, but Lucas, having received special silat training from Kevin, had no problems dodging it. She tried to scream, but her air supply was cut off. All that emanated from her oral orifice was an estranged gurgle. "You do not deserve it," Lucas said to her. "You do not deserve your power!"  
And then, she started to change. Into the real woman she was. It was as if her power was being drained from her body. Lucas noticed the horror in her eyes, and it was apparent this change was not voluntary. Lucas released her throat, the woman before him now grasping it as well as inhaling the oxygen her system badly needed.

"What did you do to me?" she whispered through her sore throat. "I can't... change anymore."

"That's no more than you deserve," Lucas said. "And now it's time for you to go," he continued, changing into Arnold. Being already quite proficient at this form, Lucas managed it in barely 5 seconds. He then grasped Fran's shoulder.  
"It ends here," he said with the old man's voice, and he teleported Fran away.

XXX___XXX___XXX

653 kilometers to the East, at a depth of 823 feet, Fran appeared underwater. The pitch-black darkness consumed her. The ice-cold water filled her lungs as she tried to scream. Her heart raced, then stopped entirely.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas didn't know where he had sent Fran and frankly he didn't care. He had more pressing matters on his mind. First of all: what _had_ he done to her? She seemed to have shifted involuntarily. But how? How could Lucas have done that? Did he take away her powers? Lucas couldn't find the answers he needed. He knew there was only one person who was smart enough to provide him with the solution: Jonathon. As he was absent, Lucas shifted from Arnold's shape straight into Jonathon's. It was the first time he had changed between two shapes directly without returning to the original him. But it was easier than he had anticipated and didn't really require extra focus. It was somehow scary to him, as he felt like he didn't have a real body that belonged to him anymore. But on the other hand, it was exciting. He could change and shift between superpowers at will. Something he had previously never believed possible. Something that he was still getting used to. And he could barely wait until John heard about this…  
John. It felt like ages since they had last met. Lucas missed him, and decided that he would go and see him straight after he had answer. No matter it was half past 2 in the morning.

Once he was in the shape of the two-year-old, Lucas put his superbrains to work. And it was all clear to him. It was so obvious he didn't understand why he hadn't figured it out straight away. It was a wonderful feeling, being so smart and intelligent.  
He remembered what the real Jonathon had told him when they had met: _"Lucas, you shift DNA and muscle memory. You can manipulate it. Transform it. You don't just change your appearance, you become an identical genetic copy of the one your portray. And because you assume their muscle memory, you look exactly like they do."_  
Lucas realized that he could not just do those things to himself; he could also do it to other people! He couldn't just shift _his_ DNA and muscle memory, he could also manipulate that of others. Lucas had taken away Fran's ability by manipulating her DNA through touch and sheer force of will. As an ability is locked away in genes, following specific, ability-specific patterns, Lucas was able to take it away by changing those genes or simply erasing them. Theoretically, he could also give an ability to anyone he wanted. But he wasn't sure if there were any benefits to that. Still, it was a fascinating given. Lucas shuddered at the power he potentially possessed. To give and take powers, to be able to change the appearances and proficiencies of not only himself, but also of other people. It felt almost… godlike. But he was wise enough to realize he was not a God. He was still just Lucas: a boy with problems like any other teenage arsehole. And at that moment, as he grasped the essence and potential of his power, Lucas made a vow: he would always stay true to himself.

After Lucas had shifted back into his original body with his original DNA and muscle memory (except for the eyes), he put on some of his old clothes. They felt good. Familiar. To his surprise he also found woman's clothes lying underneath his regular ones. Women's clothes only a very tall, slim youthful girl should be wearing. Fran was neither of those. He shrugged, deciding it wasn't really important and exited his room. He walked down the stairs, glad to see the rest of the house hadn't changed at all in the time he had been gone. He glanced at his parents' bedroom door. He would talk to them first thing tomorrow morning. But right now, he was going to his best friend: John Mulrooney.

Sure, it was 3 AM, but Lucas rang the doorbell anyway. He could've teleported into his room, but he wasn't sure how John would react to that. After all, he didn't know how that shape shifter had affected their relationship. Ringing the doorbell at 3 AM wasn't exactly regular behaviour either, but it was a little bit less… weird. He could count on John's parents not waking up. If he knew them, they'd be harder to wake than a hedgehog missing 5 years of hibernation. And he proved to be correct. After ringing two more times, a confused John carefully opened up the door, peeping his head around the door first. After he was sort of comforted, seeing only a boy in his t-shirt, he opened the door all the way. John didn't recognize Lucas right away.  
"Yeah, can I… help you? With anything?" John asked. He had trouble concealing a yawn.  
"John, it's me. Lucas."

"Luca-? What? Get the fuck away from here, you're not Lucas…" John said, wanting to close the door, but Lucas got a foot in.

"Get away from here before I call the fucking police! You got two seconds to remove your foot!"

"John, please, listen to me, it's me, Lucas. I cut my hair, wear lenses, I… Please listen, I'll prove it!"

"You haven't spoken to me in months, why would you come over now in the middle of the night?"

"Let me explain. Please, ask me something… Anything… That proves I'm Lucas."

"Okay… Who are the only two characters in Soul Calibur 3 beginning with a 'Y'?"

"Yoshimitsu and Yung-Seong," Lucas replied, almost without having to think about it.

"What armour do the Halo-SPARTANS use?"

"MJOLNIR armour."

"Under whom did Hwoarang train?"

"Baek Doo San."

"What's the fifth form of lightsaber combat?"

"Shien or alternatively Djem So."

John sighed. "Guess it really _is_ you. Why come here all of a sudden? And… Why the makeover? You look real… different. But it suits you!"

"Yes, it's a… a long story. Can I come in?"

"Sure…"

"So, Lucas," John began when they both sat down. "What the fuck has been going on here, man? Why have you been ignoring me for these past couple of months? It really… hurt me, you know."

John's words felt like a knife to the heart. It was a strange feeling to feel remorse for something he hadn't done.  
"As I said, it's a long story."

"Please, enlighten me."

And so, Lucas told his story once more. Almost identical to what he had told Kate and Jonathon, only adding the parts that had occurred after they had said goodbye to the two youngsters. He told John about his abduction, his training, his encounters with Elle, his mission with Dreyfuss, his captivity, his escape. The meeting with Kate and Jonathon, how he learned about his powers and how he teleported Maarten away. And eventually, how he ended up back here. Throughout the story, John remained silent. His mouth opened gradually, unable to utter even a single word. Lucas feared it was mostly out of disbelief. And as he finished his story, almost three quarters of an hour had passed. And John shook his head.

"Wow, Luke,… I always knew you had a wild imagination, but… please. Teleportation? Shape shifting? Time… travel? Absorbing abilities and… muscle memory? Shit, man."

"It's true. And what's more, I'll prove it!" Lucas stood up from the bed, closing his eyes. After a bit of teleportation he'd sing a different tune.

"Holy shit!" John shouted, jumping up from his bed, as Lucas shifted into the old Ernie Crum. "Fuck! Fuck! I must be dreaming, I…"

"Oh, John, for fuck's sake," he said the old man's creaky voice, "it's me, Lucas. I told you I could do this. Do you believe me now?"

"I… Shit, man, what do you want me to say?"

"Yes would be a good answer. Now take my hand."

"What?" John asked as if Lucas had asked him to dip his hand it into a vat of molten durasteel.

"Take my hand. I'm not contagious, you know."

"Owkay. This is all just a dream anyway."

Lucas sighed as John grabbed his hand. He concentrated on his room, lightly squeezing the skin around his eyes and nose. With a soft plopping noise the two teleported through space, reappearing in the room Lucas had left behind not so long ago.

"Holy… Wha-. What was that?" John shouted ocne again.

"I told you, we teleported," Lucas said changing back to his own body. "You believe me now?"

"This…" John mumbled as he sat himself down on Lucas' bed, covering his head in the palms of his hands, "is a lot to take in at once."

"I understand," Lucas nodded, sitting himself down next to his friend, "I can barely still believe it myself."

"What I don't understand… Who was the man I saw at school every day? Who was the man that ignored me, tried to drive a wedge between us? I…"

"Not a man, but a woman. A shape shifter. Employed by the Primatech Company in order to avoid suspicion. She's gone, though. We won't have to worry about her anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite," Lucas nodded. "She's probably somewhere in a South-American jungle, I don't know."

"Fuck me," John sighed. "I didn't expect this when I heard the front doorbell ring…"

Lucas grinned. "I didn't exactly expect to be abducted and learn about secret powers either that one fateful night…"

John laughed. "Ahh, just wait until Rachel hears about this. She'll love it."

"Rachel? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's my girlfriend. Hot stuff. Finest piece of pussy South of the North Pole. Been together for almost… five months now, I think."

"Wow. That's about as long as… I've been gone," Lucas said, thinking he was onto something. "That's odd."

"Odd?" John asked. "What's so odd about it?"

"Well, just the fact that you only met her _after_ I'd been gone. Have you ever seen her before _I_ started acting strange?"

"No, she moved in from America. She…"

"Have you ever gone to her house?" Lucas interrupted him.

"No, she wouldn't let me. She always came over."

"Did you ever see her and the fake me simultaneously?"

"I, erm… Not that I know of, why? What are you asking really, Lucas?" John asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Could you call her right now?"

"I could, yeah, but she won't like that."

"Just do it, please."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Lucas forcefully said, a lot harder than he intended.

"Okay, okay, calm down, man," John said reaching for the cell phone in his pocket. He dialed the number and waited.  
Somewhere in the room a phone rang, and even though Lucas had sort of anticipated it, his heart still skipped a beat.  
"What the f-… That's Rachel's ringtone!" John said, looking around to find the source of the noise. He soon found the cell under Lucas' bed. "And that's her cell phone. What's going on here, for fuck's sake?"

Lucas sighed. "Looks like you've been played as hard as I was, pal."

"You mean…"

"Rachel was me. Well, Rachel was the Primatech shape shifter who also played me. It has to be. I mean, why else would her cell phone be lying here? And look…" Lucas said, remembering something, walking towards his closet and opening it, "see this?" he continued, retrieving the women's clothes he'd seen earlier. "Recognize these, maybe?"

"Those are Rachel's, yeah," John sighed, burying his head in his hands. "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! You gotta be shitting me, this is all just some fucking bad dream I'm about to wake up from. It has to be."

"John, man, calm down! What's done is done. The shape shifter's gone and I'm back. That's how things are. I'm afraid your relationship, or… whatever it was, wasn't real. I'm sorry you got played. It's probably because of me, but…"

"It's not your fault, Lucas," John interrupted, "it's the fault of that gang of superpowered thugs and that conniving bitch. Fuck man. I really loved her, you know."

"Yeah, I understand how you feel. Being betrayed by the woman you love," Lucas said with a shy grin, thinking back of Elle. Even now she turned his stomach upside down. A long pause fell between the two friends.

"This is too much to take in on just one night," John eventually sighed. "I really need to sleep, man. Need some time to process all of this. You understand, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Lucas truthfully nodded his head. "Want me to teleport you back?"

"Wh-? No, I'll walk, thanks."

"I'll come by first thing in the morning okay?" Lucas asked.

"Sure," John agreed. "Then we'll talk some more about… all of this. Aye?"

"Aye," Lucas grinned, shaking his best friend's hand. And as John closed the door behind him and quietly walked down the stairs, Lucas laid himself down on his bed. Strangely enough, it smelled exactly the way he remembered it.

XXX___XXX___XXX

"So you took him out?" Bob Bishop asked Clarence Sarr, one of his Company Agents. Next to them stood Graham, still bandaged up and reeking of salves. His body had done a tremendous effort at healing itself. He wasn't still entirely healed, but the worst was over now.

"I took'im out, sir, that's right," Clarence proudly nodded. "One palm to the skull and he dropped down like a paralyzed and unconscious Russian. Which is funny, because…"

"Yes, yes, I get it. A joke. Funny," Bob sarcastically said. "Anyway, you did a good job, Clarence. Who knows what havoc and destruction he could've caused had you not gotten to him."

Bob Bishop looked at the table, on which the unconscious Maarten, stripped down to his underwear, was tied up.

"He got Kevin and the Farrars?" Graham asked.

"That's right," Clarence nodded. Burnt them so bad their bodies changed into ashes before they hit the ground. Figuratively speaking of course."

"Charming," Bob interrupted. "Now wake him up, Clarence."

"Sure thing, boss," the Company Agent said. He walked over to Maarten and laid his hand on the tall man's temple. Maarten opened his eyes, still drowsy.

Bob looked at Graham. "He's all yours. Do what you gotta do," he said and took Clarence by the shoulder. They left the room.

Graham walked over to Maarten, who had now woken up.

"Remember me?" Graham asked.

"I… Graham, yeah. Sure. Didn't I fry you?"

"You did. But it wasn't enough to kill me, you son of a bitch."

To Graham's surprise Maarten grinned. "Good. Dying wouldn't have caused you a sufficient amount of pain. "

"Why did you do it anyway, Maarten? Attacking us like this… I mean, you must've known there was no way you were going to get away with this."

"You and your Company killed my family, you _dolboeb_. And it's _you_ and those who killed them that didn't get away with it. Kevin and the Farrars, they're dead as can be. The Primatech offices were littered with corpses. My mission is complete. There's nothing left for me on this Earth."

"Then," Graham said, retrieving a gun from his belt, "I'll be doing you a favour when I blow your brains out?"

"I couldn't care less," Maarten sneered.

"Fine, then. Because I could. You see, you had your mind set on vengeance. You got it. But ever since you burnt me so badly and scarred me for life, I've been wanting revenge too. And I always get what I want. Always. And I'll have it now."

Graham planted the gun against Maarten's left cheekbone. "Any last words?"

"_K__ooshi govno ee oomree_," Maarten defiantly spat.

Graham grinned, and pulled the trigger. Maarten was no more.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Frank and Sharon Terry were already having breakfast when Lucas came downstairs. The smell of scrambled eggs, baked beans and sausages was a holy delight to Lucas' senses, who had been living on prisoner's food while he was gone. But it was nothing compared to seeing his folks at the dinner table, steadily and easily living their lives. They were rather surprised when Lucas sat himself down next to them. Not in the least because they barely recognized him.

"Yeah, I erm... Got a haircut. And I don't need glasses anymore. Funny, eh?" Lucas smiled. He had decided he wouldn't tell them what he had been through. Not that he didn't trust them or feared they wouldn't accept him. He didn't want to burden their minds with it. And he didn't want them to take any drastic actions. They had no idea what the Company was capable of. He did fear he was compromising their safety by being around them, but figured they didn't know where he was anyway.

"It suits you, son," Frank said with a smile, happy to see his son behave normally again.

"Thanks, pop. Hey, listen, I wanted to tell you both something." Lucas took a deep breath as both his mother and father shot questioning looks at him. "I realize I haven't been a very good son recently, and I wanted to say I'm sorry. I... got carried away, didn't realize who I was. But least of all I didn't realize how much I love you two. Or how much I need you. And I'm going to change it. All of it. From now on, you can count on me. And you'll be proud to call me a child of yours, I promise you." Lucas awaited their response. Eventually, it was his father who answered.

"Well... you _have_ been acting very strange as of late, sneaking in and out after midnight, being rude to us, your grades have dropped significantly,... But it's good to hear that you recognize these problems and deal with them. It's all a father can ask for."

Sharon Terry nodded, agreeing in silence. Lucas felt relieved. That had gone better than he expected.

"Well," he continued, "why don't we do something together tomorrow? Go on a trip, spend some time together as a family. I can hardly remember the last time we did that."

"Sounds good," Sharon nodded. "I'll arrange something."

"Great!" Lucas smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm going to see John."

"Ah, John? You two caught up again, then? Good to hear," Frank said, raising his thumbs.

"Yep," Lucas nodded. "I'll see you later."

XXX___XXX___XXX

"Graham, we've got a serious situation," Bob Bishop told his right-hand man as he came back from the interviewing room.

"What is it?" Graham asked.

"Fran's not answering her emergency number."

"So you think..."

"I think the Terry kid may have gotten to her."

"But he couldn't hurt her, could he? And besides, how would he end up there? Last time we saw him in Russia."

"I'm quite sure they're receiving help from a teleporter. And so was Maarten."

"That's possible," Graham nodded.

"Lucas Terry's back home, I'm sure of it. Like a scared dog he has run back to old, familiar places where he feels safe."

"You want to go after him?"

"Oh, yes. And I want you to do it."

"I'd be happy to. Give me another day to heal up and I'll be back as new."

"Good. In the mean time, put together a team. If he's receiving help I want to catch the teleporter as well. Take Clarence with you for starters. He has proven he's up to the task. And don't underestimate Lucas. Shoot to kill. Nothing else. Remember, he has received training in martial arts and can change his appearance. So be wary."

"Will do, sir. I'll start building a team right away. We'll be ready to attack tomorrow night."

XXX___XXX___XXX

[Next chapter: Company agents come to Lucas' house once more.]


	17. Powerless

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 16 - Powerless

Chapter Summary: Lucas' house is assaulted by several Company agents. However, they soon find out Lucas is no longer easy pickings.

Timeline situation: After 'Four Months later'

XXX___XXX___XXX

Lucas picked up his old cell phone. It felt good being home again, being surrounded by family and familiarities. He had just come home from a day out, it was a Sunday after all, with his parents and had thoroughly enjoyed it. But now he felt the need to talk to his best friend again. They'd spent an entire day yesterday together. Lucas showed John what he could do and what he was capable of. He had turned into other people and even demonstrated the use of other abilities, like Maarten's pyrokinesis and Kate's telekinesis. John was understandably wowed and encouraged Lucas to continue to experiment with his ability. His earlier scepticism had taken place for a newfound optimism, something he was his best friend really grateful for. There was, however, one thing Lucas had kept hidden from John: the fact he could give other people abilities as well. Lucas feared it would change John's disposition towards Lucas, maybe trying to convince him to share his power. And even though they were best friends, Lucas didn't want to share his gift with anyone. It was, as far as he was concerned, the only thing that made him feel unique. It bolstered his self-confidence, knowing that he was a human with superhuman powers. He had been a mediocre arse his entire life. He wasn't about to become one again. At least, not in his own eyes. He was pretty sure he was still going to be somewhat of an outcast at school, as he obviously could not display any of his abilities in public. But still, knowing what he was capable of, and knowing that it set him apart from (or above) the rest, felt good. Besides, power changed people. And he didn't want his best friend to change. Not one bit. He dialled the number...

"Aye, Luke, how are you doing? Had a nice time up town?" John immediately said through the speaker.

"Definitely. Everything's going to turn out just fine."

"That's great. Did they ask you many questions?"

"Nah, not really. They were just happy to spend some time with me is all. They had trouble getting used to my new look, though," Lucas grinned, even John couldn't see it on the other side of the phone line.

"Aye, tell me 'bout it. I had to blink a couple of times myself yesterday. But it really suits you, Luke. I wonder how the people at school are going to react."

"Aye, me too. Not really looking forward to it, truth be told."

"Well, I've always said you need to stand up for yourself. Now that you've sorta broken with your past, now might be the time, no?"

"Possibly," Lucas shrugged. "We'll see. I'm not going to act tough or anything. But I'm not going to be picked on any longer. I've went through so much lately... I don't think I'll be able to stand it any longer."

"Ah, well, Stagnetti and his friends don't pick on anyone with a backbone, so if you stand up to them they'll back off. He didn't even retaliate after I got into a fight with him, so..."

"You did? When?" Lucas grinned.

"Couple of months ago, I guess it was right after you disappeared and Rach... I mean that Company Agent was sent to our school to take your place. She was being bullied. And I, thinking it was you, got into a fight with Stagnetti and some of his friends. Broke some bones as well. Stagnetti swore he'd kill me, I got suspended. But when he came out of the hospital he didn't even dare to look at me. Funny, huh?"

"Funny? I think it's bloody brilliant!" Lucas shouted.

"I guess so... So, what are you going to do now? Game, I reckon?"

"Boy, it's itching, but I really need some sleep. School tomorrow, right?"

"Right? 7.30 AM, my door? Usual route?" John asked.

"Suits me," Lucas said.

"Okay. I'll see you then. Don't be late. I know you."

"Hey, I can travel through time. I won't be late," Lucas joked.

"Yes, erm... Best not cause any time paradoxes just to be on time when you could just as easily get out of bed on a decent hour."

"Solid plan," Lucas grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow then, mate."

"See ya."

Lucas put away his cellphone and laid himself down on the bed. Eyes closed, it didn't take him long to drift away into a deep sleep. But he awoke much sooner than he had planned...

XXX___XXX___XXX

A car stopped in front of Lucas Terry's house. Inside were 5 men. All of them were highly trained Company agents, gifted with a superhuman ability. First there was Graham Bourne. A man whose ability allowed him to perfectly execute every single action within his physical limits. Then there was Clarence Sarr. A man whose sole touch could render a fully grown elephant paralyzed and unconscious until touched again. Then there was Alek Stybar. A man who could walk through walls and other solid materials. Then there was Lawrence Gordo. A man who could render himself invisible. And at last there was Eddie Hash. A man who could travel at superhuman speeds. It was Graham's elite strike team. A team ideal for covert missions that required delicacy and secrecy.

"So remember," Graham told the others. "We sneak in and take him. Do not kill him yet, it'd be a mess. We'll do away with him someplace quiet. Understood?"

The others nodded, and Graham looked at Alek Stybar, who walked towards the door. He phased through it, unlocking the door as he pulled his hand back. Easy as that.  
"Lawrence, scout the area inside," Graham whispered.  
Lawrence nodded again and turned himself invisible. After a minute he returned. "All clear," he whispered. "He's asleep."

"Perfect," Graham said. "So, Clarence, you touch him and Eddie, you take him. Got that?"

"Yes, sir," both man said. And they stepped inside.

Lucas woke up with a start. He heard something. Soft footsteps coming up the stairs. Definitely more than one person. His bedroom door was open. His heart raced. His mind sought for a solution. '_How do I take them out?' _he thought. _'How? Fast and quietly...'_ Then an idea sprung to mind. A very simple word. One word. _'Sedation'_. "Dreyfuss..." Lucas whispered to himself. The adrenaline in his blood made him transform into the old criminal in mere seconds. By the time he was transformed, he saw a silhouette appearing in the door. And, just as he had seen Dreyfuss do, he started whistling softly. He didn't know how, he acted purely and solely on instinct. And it worked. They fell down to the ground, as if they were drugged. Lucas got out of bed, changing back into his original form to see who the intruders were. And to his big surprise, he recognised one of them.

"Graham..." Lucas whispered. "Son of a... They need to get out of here."

He changed into Arnold. His heart still racing with excitement, it didn't take him very long. Just as he had done to Fran, he teleported them to a random location somewhere on Earth. He didn't know where, and he didn't really care. He didn't even bother touching their skin to absorb their DNA, he just wanted them gone. With one exception...  
He realized the Company would never stop hunting him unless he did something. Make a deal perhaps? It didn't really matter to him. But he believed there was a constructive solution.

Out of own personal experience, he believed that someone could be bullied into an agreement. And, for the first time in his life, he was not going to be on the receiving end of such a deal. He placed the palms of his hands on Graham's temple, and focused.

"Gone, gone, gone. Away with your ability!" Lucas whispered. And subconsciously, he felt something changing within Graham's body. He couldn't explain what. But somehow he knew, he just _knew_, that Graham was rendered powerless.

XXX___XXX___XXX

When Graham woke up he was tied to a chair. He saw a clock that indicated the time. It was 6:14 AM. He tried to move, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

"Tough, huh, those restraints?" a voice from behind him said. Graham recognised it instantaneously thanks to the thick Scottish accent.

"Lucas. Let me out of here!"

"Oh, sure," Lucas answered, stepping into Graham's view. "I will. But I wanted to show you something first."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Graham asked, wondering how he could've ended up like this. He was afraid and amazed. He had been about to enter Lucas' bedroom when he suddenly blacked out and woke up in this chair. Still, he didn't want Lucas to know of his fear. So he decided to play along for a while.

"See that trashcan over there?"

"Yeah."

"Spit in it. From where you're sitting. You should be able to do that, no?"

"Of course, I can't miss thanks to my ability."

"Well, then. Do it. And I'll let you go."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yes, but..." Graham stuttered. It was a very strange request. He shrugged, and formed some spit with his tongue. He tightened his cheeks and spat, aiming for the trashcan.

The spit hit the floor, a couple inches wide of the target he had aimed for.

"What the..." Graham brought out. He had genuinely aimed for it. He couldn't miss. He shouldn't have. This was impossible. This had never happened to him before.

"Ouch," Lucas grinned. "Seems like you could use some practice."

"What happened?" Graham asked, desperate for an answer. "Did you do something?"

"I did. I took away your power, Graham."

"You did WHAT?!" Graham shouted. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He didn't believe it. Lucas Terry was just a simple kid. A stupid shape shifter. No way he could've done something like that.

"I took away your power," Lucas repeated. "Permanently. And you can run to your boss and tell him that from now on I will do exactly the same to any of you guys who comes here and threatens me, my family, or my friend. Got that? And I am NOT bluffing. Let me show you."

Lucas changed into someone he was certain Graham would know well: Brian Farrar. He had touched the teleporter once during their first meeting. A single handshake. But it had been enough to store his DNA inside of himself.

"I do not only mimic people's appearances," Lucas explained, "I can use their ability as well. So if I touch you, as that's what Brian Farrar can do, I send you to wherever the hell I want. And I want to send you back to New York. Back to your boss. Tell him that you're no longer an evolved human, Graham. And tell him that if he ever comes after me, I will come after him. And take away whatever his power is. You got that?"

Graham didn't say anything, but he nodded affirmatively.

"Good," Lucas smiled. "See ya!" he added, and placed his hand on Graham's shoulder. A brief moment of concentration, and the ability did the rest. Graham was teleported away, straight into the office of Bob Bishop.

Lucas shifted back into himself. He looked at the clock. He realized he had to go to school later on. And he absolutely despised the thought.

XXX___XXX___XXX

Bob Bishop was sitting at his desk, running some calibrations on his computer. He heard a soft plopping noise and to his surprise, he saw a panting Graham Bourne sitting on the mat in front of him.

"Graham?" he asked. "What's the meaning of this? Where are the others? Where's Lucas? Did you kill him and his teleporting friend?"

"No, sir," Graham whispered, slowly getting up. "It's best we let him stay where he is, sir. He poses a greater threat to us if we keep hunting him. It'd be in our best interests to just let him live his life in peace."

"What on Earth makes you say that?" Bob sceptically asked.

"Well," Graham sighed. "You see that trashcan?"

XXX___XXX___XXX

[Next chapter: Lucas looks to the future]


	18. Anti Hero

Author: Nils Bolle aka The Outlander

Disclaimer: Heroes was invented by Tim Kring and I do not own any of the copyrighted material he and his co-workers have produced since creating the concept. References to other franchises are purely for entertainment's sake, and I do not seek to profit from them, nor rob their creators from any profit.

Title: Anti-Heroes

Summary: A mighty new Hero rises, but does he _want_ to save the world?

Chapter: Chapter 17 – Anti Hero

Chapter Summary: Lucas picks up the routine of his old life. Albeit superpowered.

Timeline situation: After 'Four Months later'

XXX___XXX___XXX

Today had been a strange day. People had gasped at him. His sudden change in appearance had come as a shock to most people at his school. A pleasant shock so it seemed. Most people had simply left him alone, what was certainly a step up from the previous rude remarks he had always had to swallow.

John had barely left his side. He looked almost privileged to walk alongside Lucas; a man whose secret only he had knowledge of. And a big secret it was.

Despite everything, Lucas missed Elle. He had never been able to say goodbye, and he had absolutely no idea where she was now. She was still the only girl he ever loved.

Lucas didn't know what was lying ahead of him now. He had a phenomenal power, but what did he have to do with it? Save the world? How? What problems could he possibly fix?

Experiment with his power? To what end? Personal gain? Power? He wasn't an evil person.

Lucas internally shrugged as he booted up his XBOX 360 and inserted Bioshock.

"Everything will turn out just fine," he mumbled. "Just fine..."

XXX___XXX___XXX

END OF VOLUME 1 'AntiHeroes'

Next Volume: RUAFREAK

[Author's notes: A very warm and meant 'THANK YOU' to everyone who read and enjoyed this little piece of fanfiction. It's the first in a quadrilogy I have planned revolving around Lucas Terry, all of them which take place in the fantastic Heroes universe. So if you liked 'AntiHeroes', be sure to check out Volume 2, 'RUAFREAK'. It'll feature some characters of 'AntiHeroes' and a lot more new ones! How to know when and where it appears? Author alert! Thanks again for bearing with me and getting to the end of this first Volume. It's been a pleasure to write it and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.]


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